Impact of Erbium (Er) and Yttrium (Y) doping on BiVO4 crystal structure towards the enhancement of photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic performance

An efficient BiVO4nanocatalyst with Erbium (Er) and Yttrium (Y) doping was synthesized via a facile microwave irradiation route and the obtained materials were further characterized through various techniques such as p-XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, UV-Vis DRS, PL, LSV, and EISanalysis. The obtained results revealed that the rare metals induce the stabilization of the monoclinic-tetragonal crystalline structure with a distinct morphology. The yttrium doped BiVO4 (Y-BiVO4) monoclinic-tetragonal exhibited anefficient photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic performanceare compared to bare BiVO4. TheY-BiVO4 indicated increased results of photocurrent of 0.43 mA/cm(2) and bare BiVO(4)0.24 mA/cm(2). Also, the Y-doped BiVO4 nanocatalyst showed the maximum photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB, MO, and RhB. A maximum degradation of 93%, 85%, and 91% was achieved for MB, MO, and RhB respectively, within 180 min under the visible light illumination. The photocatalytic decomposition of acetaldehyde also was performed. The improved photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic activity are due to the narrowing the bandgap, leading to extending the photoabsorption capability and reducing the recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs through the formation inner energy state of the rare earth metals. The current study disclosed that the synthesis of nanomaterials with crystal modification could be a prospectivecontender forhydrogen energy production as well as to the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.To the best of our knowledge, both photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical studies were never been reported before for this type of material.

Automated summary

An efficient BiVO4 nanocatalyst doped with Erbium (Er) and Yttrium (Y) was synthesized using a microwave irradiation method. This catalyst showed improved photoelectrochemical water splitting and photocatalytic performance compared to bare BiVO4. The study demonstrated the potential of crystal modification using rare earth metals for hydrogen energy production and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.