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Facile synthesis of Se/BiVO4 heterojunction composite and evaluation of synergetic reaction mechanism for efficient photocatalytic staining of organic dye pollutants in wastewater under visible light

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Abstract

The novel Se/BiVO4 heterojunction nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by facile hydrothermal method. The physical and chemical properties of photocatalyst samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR, XPS, BET, UV–Vis DRS, PL, EIS, and EPR techniques. The photocatalytic activity of Se/BiVO4 was measured for the degradation of pollutant, Crystal Violet (CV) organic dye. It was observed that Se/BiVO4 photocatalyst with mole ratio 2:1 exhibited superior degradation of 98.69% of CV dye within 50 min using visible light. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectra show that OH· radical being strong oxidizing agent is a major active agent species in the degradation of CV over Se/BiVO4@(2:1). The tremendous photo memory and stable nature of the Se/BiVO4 photocatalysts endorsed their usage as cost-effective photocatalysts for practical applications. Based on these results, the enhanced photocatalytic activities could be owed to the improved optical absorption and efficient separation and migration of photo-created charge carriers with the decreased recombination of electrons–holes resulting from composite effect. The possible photocatalytic mechanism of Se/BiVO4 was critically discussed based on the experimental results.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge Dr. Zhengjun Zhang for supporting characterization techniques and keen interest, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Funding

This work was financially supported by the State Scholarship Fund of China Scholarship Council (No. 201808410144), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51202107), and Foundation of Henan Educational Committee (No. 20A480003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltic Materials, School of Physics, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Muhammad Munir Sajid & Haifa Zhai

  2. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, China

    Haifa Zhai

  3. Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China

    Sadaf Bashir Khan

  4. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices, Systems of Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China

    Sadaf Bashir Khan

  5. Department of Physics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Yasir Javed

  6. Department of Physics, Government College University Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Nasir Amin & Naveed Akhtar Shad

  7. Advanced Key Laboratory for New Ceramics, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Zhengjun Zhang

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  1. Muhammad Munir Sajid
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Sajid, M.M., Khan, S.B., Javed, Y. et al. Facile synthesis of Se/BiVO4 heterojunction composite and evaluation of synergetic reaction mechanism for efficient photocatalytic staining of organic dye pollutants in wastewater under visible light. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 31, 19599–19612 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04487-0

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