Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activities of BiVO<sub>4 </sub>with Different Solvent

Bismuth-based oxides have attractive photocatalytic properties under visible light. Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) particles as a visible light-responsive photocatalyst were prepared by a facile hydrothermal reaction method with the different solvent using Bi(NO3)3·5H2O and NH4VO3 as raw materials at 180°C for 18h. The as-prepared samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis absorption spectra (UV-vis). The photocatalytic activity of BiVO4 crystals was evaluated using the photocatalytic oxidation of methylene blue (MB) at room temperature under visible light irradiation. It was found that the morphology and the band gap adsorption edge of BiVO4 are different with the different solvent. The widest band gap energy of BiVO4 obtained with ethylene glycol as solvent is 2.405eV. In addition, the BiVO4 powders exhibit a certain photocatalytic properties to photodegrade MB and the maximum photocatalytic degradation rate is 34% using BiVO4 prepared with water as solvent for 2h.