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La3+,Gd3+-codoped BiVO4 nanorods with superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance for simultaneous removing aqueous Cr(VI) and azo dye

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Abstract

Approximately 300 nm La3+,Gd3+-codoped BiVO4 nanorods were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. Different physicochemical techniques were used to characterize the nanorods. The photocatalytic performance test in orange II oxidation and Cr(VI) reduction showed that La3+,Gd3+-BiVO4 composite nanorods exhibited superior performance for removal of orange II and Cr(VI). Doping of La3+ and/or Gd3+ obviously decreased the crystallite size of BiVO4 and increased its surface area. Moreover, codoping of La3+ and Gd3+ significantly promoted the separation efficiency of photo-generated charges. The improvement in texture property and the separation and transfer of electron/hole pairs mainly accounted for the high photocatalytic performance of La3+,Gd3+-BiVO4 composite nanorods. When Cr(VI) and orange II were coexistent, this synergistic reaction further efficiently suppressed the electron–hole recombination, leading to a large increase in photocatalytic performance with respect to single system. These studies suggest that La3+,Gd3+-BiVO4 nanorods are promising visible-light-driven photocatalysts for environmental remediation.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledged the Project Supported by Guangdong Province Universities and Colleges Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2019), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2019A1515011249), Key Research Project of Natural Science of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education (2019KZDXM010), and the program for Innovative Research Team of Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology.””

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, 525000, Guangdong, China

    Jingwen Jia, Mengfan Zhang, Zhen Liu, Changlin Yu, Wanqin Zhou & Zesheng Li

  2. Faculty of Materials Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, Jiangxi, China

    Jingwen Jia & Mengfan Zhang

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  1. Jingwen Jia
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  2. Mengfan Zhang
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  4. Changlin Yu
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Correspondence to Changlin Yu.

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Jia, J., Zhang, M., Liu, Z. et al. La3+,Gd3+-codoped BiVO4 nanorods with superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance for simultaneous removing aqueous Cr(VI) and azo dye. J Nanopart Res 22, 275 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-020-05012-4

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