Generation of strong oxidizing radicals from plate-like morphology of BiVO4 for the fast degradation of crystal violet dye under visible light

Applied Physics A volume 126, Article number: 314 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

Highly crystalline bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) powder was prepared by a template-free hydrothermal method under different pH (~ 2, 3, 5, 8, 11) reaction conditions and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, photoluminescence, and electron spin resonance techniques. It was found that variation in pH of the precursor solution can influence morphology, structure and, consequently, photocatalytic efficiency of obtained products. The spherical BiVO4 nanoparticles were obtained at pH 2 and 3, nanorods at pH 5 and 8, whereas nanoplates were obtained at pH 11. Among the different pH-based BiVO4 samples, the one prepared at pH ~ 11 (BiVO4-11) exhibited surface area 102.74 m2/g and degraded the dye solution completely within 90 min. Therefore, pH-controlled hydrothermal reaction can be useful to synthesize nanostructures with different morphologies efficiently for the enhanced photocatalytic degradation of pollutant under visible light.

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Acknowledgements

All the experiments had been performed at Government College University in Faisalabad, Pakistan. SEM, EDX, XPS, BET, Raman, PL and ESR techniques were supported by Dr. Zhengjun Zhang, Advanced Key Laboratory for New Ceramics, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 100084.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Affiliations

  1. School of Physics, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China

    Muhammad Munir Sajid & Haifa Zhai

  2. Department of Physics, Government College University, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Munir Sajid, Naveed Akhtar Shad & Nasir Amin

  3. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China

    Muhammad Munir Sajid & Haifa Zhai

  4. Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 01897, South Korea

    Amir Muhammad Afzal

  5. Department of Physics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Yasir Javed

  6. The State Key Laboratory for New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Sadaf Bashir Khan

  7. National Institute of Lasers and Optics (NILOP), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Attaullah Shah

  8. Department of Applied Sciences, National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Imran Yousaf

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  1. Muhammad Munir Sajid
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Sajid, M.M., Shad, N.A., Afzal, A.M. et al. Generation of strong oxidizing radicals from plate-like morphology of BiVO4 for the fast degradation of crystal violet dye under visible light. Appl. Phys. A 126, 314 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-020-03484-8

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Keywords

  • Hydrothermal method
  • Crystal violet dye
  • Photocatalytic degradation
  • Hydroxyl radical generation
  • Surface area analysis