Synthesis of Sn and Zr-Doped BiVO4 Nanocatalyst with Enhanced Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Activity

Herein, a facile microwave route to synthesized of Tin (Sn) and Zirconium (Zr) doped BiVO4 with enhanced photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance are demonstrated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the monoclinic-tetragonal structure of metal doped BiVO4. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) images confirmed the sphere like morphology while bare is in floral structure. The Raman (RS) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) Spectroscopy indicate the functional group of composition. Photoluminance (PL) spectroscopy revealed that the doped BiVO4 showed better excitation then the bare BiVO4. The UV-Visible diffused reflectance (UV-vis-DRS) spectroscopy exposed improved visible light driven by narrow band gap of metal doped BiVO4. Further Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Linear Sweep voltammetry characterization (LSV) report that the metal doped BiVO4 established better photoelectrochemical activity in water splitting. The impact of metal doping in the crystallinity, optical properties, electrical properties and photocatalytic activity were evaluated using model pollutant of azo dyes and gaseous acetaldehyde under visible light irradiation. The Zr doped BiVO4 exhibit better performance for degradation of dyes, acetaldehyde decomposition and water splitting properties then the Sn doped BiVO4 and bare BiVO4. This work founds that the metal doping with semiconductor is effective in creating heterostructured nanomaterials, which result in reduce the recombination processes, leading to improved photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance.