LIU Xin, LI Wentao, LI Jiake

(School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China)

Abstract:  β-AgVO₃/BiVO₄ composite photocatalyst was in-situ synthesized by using hydrothermal method, with bismuth nitrate, ammonium metavanadate and silver nitrate as the main raw materials. The effect of Ag⁺ on composition and microstructure of the catalyst was studied by using XRD, SEM and UV-Vis, etc., while the photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated using methylene blue solution (10 mg/L) as the simulated pollutant. It was demonstrated that optical absorption edge of the β-AgVO₃/BiVO₄ had a slight red shift and narrowed band gap. The β-AgVO₃/BiVO₄ exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance when the content of Ag⁺ was 5 wt.%, with degradation rate of methylene blue solution to be 92.1% after illumination for 180 min. In comparison, the degradation rate of BiVO₄ to methylene blue solution was only 73.5%.

Key words:  bismuth vanadate; in-situ composite; photocatalysis; band gap