An inorganic hydrothermal route to photocatalytically active bismuth vanadate Original Research Article

BiVO4 has attracted research interest as one of the most promising visible-light-driven oxidic photocatalysts for water splitting and wastewater treatment. Highly crystalline BiVO4 particles with a homogeneous morphology are now available from a straightforward, one-step hydrothermal protocol. The facile morphology control of BiVO4 particles in the Bi(NO3)3·5H2O/V2O5/K2SO4 hydrothermal system is achieved through K2SO4 as an inorganic additive that brings forward materials with a high photocatalytic activity. BiVO4 particles generated from this inorganic additive-assisted approach outperform BiVO4 materials obtained via other preparative routes in the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The relations between morphology, crystallinity and photocatalytic O2 evolution in the presence of AgNO3 and FeCl3 as sacrificial reagents were studied with respect to the hydrothermal optimization of material properties. Furthermore, the Bi(NO3)3·5H2O/V2O5/K2SO4 hydrothermal system brings forward potassium vanadate fibers as a second phase that also exhibits promising photocatalytic properties with respect to the decomposition of MB in the presence of visible light.