Core/shell FeVO4@BiOCl heterojunction as a durable heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for the efficient sonophotocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol

Abstract In this study, a FeVO4@BiOCl p–n heterojunction with n-type porous FeVO4 nanorods as the core and p-type flower-like BiOCl nanostructures as the shell was successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The novel heterostructure was investigated as a durable heterogeneous Fenton catalyst for ultrasonic irradiation (US), ultraviolet irradiation (UV) and coupling irradiation systems (US/UV). Characterization of FeVO4@BiOCl core shell heterojunction was conducted by XRD, SEM, EDS elemental mapping, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, FTIR, Raman, BET, PZC, XPS and DRS. Several different experimental parameters, including irradiation time, H2O2 concentration, catalyst amount, initial concentration, and pH value, were optimized. The stability and reusability of the prepared FeVO4@BiOCl core shell heterojunction were evaluated as well. Mineralization experiments were carried out using the optimized parameters. The results showed that FeVO4@BiOCl core shell heterojunction exhibits a superior sonophotocatalytic performance compared to either sonocatalysis or photocatalysis. Moreover, the formation of p-n core@shell nanostructures could significantly increase the pHpzc, and to an excellent stability for the degradation of PNP after six cycles. The remarkable enhancement of the degradation performance of FeVO4@BiOCl core shell heterojunction can be attributed to the unique structure and morphology with a matched energy band structure owing to the internal electric field induced by the p–n junction, a high transfer efficiency and the efficient separation of e−/h+ pairs, resulting in a huge number of reactive species for the degradation of PNP. A plausible mechanism over FeVO4@BiOCl core shell heterojunction for the sonophotocatalytic degradation of PNP is proposed based on a special three-way, i.e. one as a photocatalyst and a two-way Fenton-like mechanism with the dissociation of H2O2. Active species trapping and calculated band gap energy were also discussed.