Synthesis and sonophotocatalytic activities of ZnO\BiVO4\Co3O4 composites

Y The composite photocatalysts ZnO/BiVO4 (35 wt%) and ZnO/BiVO4 (35 wt%)/Co3O4 (10 wt%) (ZBC) were hydrothermal synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV-Vis diffusion reflectance spectra techniques. The sonophotocatalytic activities of these composites were investigated by degrading brilliant green dye. Approximately 99.1% brilliant green dye was degraded within 60 min of visible light illumination using ZBC as the photocatalyst, which is much higher than the efficiency reported early. The multi-element heterojunction structure and the ultrasound effectively improve the photodegradation performance.

Automated summary

The composite photocatalysts ZnO/BiVO4 and ZnO/BiVO4/Co3O4 were synthesized through hydrothermal methods and showed highly efficient degradation of brilliant green dye under visible light irradiation, with ZBC degrading approximately 99.1% of the dye within 60 minutes, significantly higher than previous reported efficiency. This improvement in photocatalytic performance is attributed to the multi-element heterojunction structure and the synergistic effect of ultrasound on the degradation process.