Metal oxide semiconductors, such as TiO2 and ZnO have been established as photocatalysts in the degradation of organic compounds under UV irradiation. On the other hand, the activity of the majority of the visible light catalysts, such as Cu2O, Fe2O3, and BiVO4 is impacted by their sluggish charge transfer, photocorrosion, and fast electron hole recombination. Creating a p-n heterojunction in metal oxide semiconductors is an effective approach to decrease the electron hole recombination and enhance their photocatalytic activity. In this presentation, we describe a new approach to enhance the phototcatlytic activity of BiVO4 with Pd nanodomains and bismuth oxybromide nanosheets dual heterojunction. The p-n heterojunction m-BiVO4/BiOBr nanosheets were prepared by a CTAB-assisted hydrothermal method at 80 °C. Subsequently, Pd nanodomains were uniformly deposited on the surface of m-BiVO4/BiOBr nanosheets by photoreduction. The pristine m-BiVO4/BiOBr photocatalyst displayed substantially higher photocatalytic activity in degradation of the organic dye, Rhodamine B, than pure BiVO4. Integrating Pd nanodomains on the surface of the composite demonstrated significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, this novel ternary composite showed favorable light-activated degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls in comparison with other established metal oxide photocatalysts, such as TiO2. The Pd-decorated m-BiVO4/BiOBr nanostructure is a promising photocatalyst for the degradation of various halogenated organic compounds.

Multicomponent bismuth vanadate heterostructures for visible light-activated catalytic degradation of halogenated organic compounds.

2019 Spring National Meeting

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