Urchin-like m-LaVO4 and m-LaVO4/Ag microspheres: Synthesis and characterization

The semiconductor nanostructures decorated with noble metals have attracted increasing attention due to their interesting physical and chemical properties. In this work, urchin-like monoclinic (m-) LaVO4 microspheres were prepared by a hydrothermal method and used as a template to fabricate Ag nanoparticle-decorated m-LaVO4 composites. The morphology and structure were characterized by transmission electron microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, and energy-dispersive X-ray. It was found that Ag nanoparticles with narrow size distribution were uniformly loaded on urchin-like m-LaVO4 microspheres, and the resulted composite microspheres showed distinct surface plasmon absorption band compared to pure m-LaVO4 microspheres. Photocatalytic activities of as-prepared samples were examined by studying the degradation of methyl orange solutions under visible-light irradiation (> 400 nm). Results clearly showed that urchin-like m-LaVO4/Ag microspheres possess much higher photocatalytic activity than pure m-LaVO4 microspheres and P25.