PEG-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of novel flower-like hierarchical BiVO4 with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Pizza-like BiVO4 powders were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal route, while novel flower-like hierarchically structured BiVO4 sample was obtained with adding PEG. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis light reflectance were employed to characterize the as-prepared products. The photocatalytic performance of the BiVO4 samples was evaluated by degrading RhB under visible light irradiation. The results display that nanoflake-assembled flower-like BiVO4 sample showed an excellent photocatalytic performance. The possible reasons for the enhanced photocatalytic activity were discussed.