Preparation and Activities of Visible-Light-Driven BiVO₄ by Doping Ag via Solid State Method

Abstract

Using Bi (NO3)3•5H2O, NH4VO3 as raw material and AgNO3, the Ag/BiVO4 were successfully prepared by a low-temperature solid-phase reaction. And Ag/BiVO4 samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and UV - visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The Methyl Orange (MO) was simulated as the sewage under the visible light to study the influence of the illumination time and the amount of photocatalyst. The visible-light absorption scopes of BiVO4 were broaden by doping Ag, the UV-Visible absorption edge were slightly red shifted and the band gap was narrower comparing with the pure BiVO4. It was found that the catalytic effect of the Ag doped catalysts enhanced under the visible-light irradiation. And the cause of the enhanced catalytic effect also has been analyzed and discussed in the article.