Microwave assisted synthesis of sheet-like Cu/BiVO4 and its activities of various photocatalytic conditions

The Cu/BiVO4 photocatalyst with visible-light responsivity was prepared by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The phase structures, chemical composition and surface physicochemical properties were well-characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption (UV-vis/DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and N-2 adsorption-desorption tests. Results indicate that the crystal structure of synthetic composite materials is mainly monoclinic scheelite BiVO4, which is not changed with the increasing doping amount of Cu. In addition, the presence of Cu not only enlarges the range of the composite materials under the visible-light response, but also increases the BET value significantly. Compared to pure BiVO4, 1% Cu/BiVO4-160 performs the highest photocatalytic activity to degrade methylene blue under the irradiation of ultraviolet, visible and simulated sunlight. In addition, the capture experiments prove that the main active species was superoxide radicals during photocatalytic reaction. Moreover, the 1% Cu/BiVO4-160 composite shows good photocatalytic stability after three times of recycling. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.