Fabrication of Co³⁺ and B co-doping BiVO₄ with improved photocatalytic performance for organic degradation

Abstract

Co3+ and B co-doping BiVO4 photocatalysts were successfully prepared for organic pollutants degradation through sol-gel and impregnation two-step process. Their structure, surface chemical composition, and optical absorption were characterized. All as-prepared samples consisted of the monoclinic phase. It was found that the Co dopants was existed in the form of CO3O4 in B-BiVO4, thus a p-n heterojunction formed in BiVO4. The optical absorption results reveal that Co3O4 could greatly enhance the absorption and decrease in the band-gap energy of BiVO4. The 0.5% Co3+ doping B-BiVO4 sample exhited the highest photocatalytic activity for methyl orange photocatalytic degradation, being approximately 92% of MO degradation rate under 50 min visible light irradiation.