Chemical combustion–high temperature calcination combined synthetic processes of BiVO<inf>4</inf> microparticles with their enhanced photocatalytic performance

Abstract

In this study, BiVO4 samples as visible-light-driven photocatalyst were prepared by the chemical combustion method using citric acid as a fuel and followed calcination at 400–550 °C in ambient air. The as-prepared BiVO4 samples were indexed to the monoclinic scheelite BiVO4 phase. The BiVO4 samples were composed of microparticles controlled by high temperature calcination. The BiVO4 samples were investigated by measuring the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation. The BiVO4 sample with 400 °C calcination shows the highest photodegradation rate under visible light irradiation because the specific surface area for visible light absorption capacity and the photogenerated charge carriers of the sample were the highest, and thus the photocatalytic activity of the sample was the highest.