BiVO4/g-C3N4 composite visible-light photocatalyst for effective elimination of aqueous organic pollutants

Abstract BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composite photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by sonification and the chemical structures of BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 heterostructures are characterized systematically. The photocatalytic activity of BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 for rhodamine B (RhB) and p -nitrophenol (PNP) degradation is evaluated under visible light irradiation. It has been found that the novel BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites exhibit excellent catalytic activities towards RhB and PNP degradation, and these BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites are much more active compared with that of pure g-C 3 N 4 . Activity enhancement after BiVO 4 introducing is mainly attributed to the better optical absorption ability over the well contacted structure in heterojunctions, good adsorption ability of organic contaminants and lower recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. In addition, in BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 -based visible-light system OH radical, not active in pure g-C 3 N 4 system, is also found to be active species for pollutants degradation, which may be another evidence for the enhanced photocatalytic activity by BiVO 4 introduction. Furthermore, the most active 10 wt.% BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 photocatalyst exhibits enough catalytic stability in recycle test, showing great potential as cost-effective heterogeneous visible-light photocatalyst for aqueous organic contaminants elimination in future applications.