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Microemulsion synthesis and photocatalytic activity of visible light-active BiVO4 nanoparticles

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Abstract

A water-in-oil microemulsion made up of a cyclohexane/n-hexyl alcohol/Polyethylene glycol tertoctylphenyl/aqueous solution including Bi3+ and VO +3 ions yields the spherical BiVO4 precursors with the size from 5 to 300 nm. Well-crystallized monoclinic scheelite BiVO4 particles with nanometer or micrometer size are fabricated in control by heating microemulsion precursors under various temperatures. The corresponding nucleation and growth process of as-prepared samples has also been investigated via TEM, which demonstrates the detailed morphological evolution of nuclei inside the precursors. As-prepared BiVO4 photocatalysts exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation in comparison with the bulk BiVO4 prepared by solid-state reaction. The highest RB degrading efficiency of 98% in 180 min under visible-light irradiation is observed for the sample calcined at 600 °C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Wei Liu, XiangFei Wang, LiXin Cao, Ge Su, Lan Zhang & YongGang Wang

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  1. Wei Liu
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  2. XiangFei Wang
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  3. LiXin Cao
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  4. Ge Su
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  5. Lan Zhang
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  6. YongGang Wang
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Correspondence to Wei Liu.

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Liu, W., Wang, X., Cao, L. et al. Microemulsion synthesis and photocatalytic activity of visible light-active BiVO4 nanoparticles. Sci. China Chem. 54, 724–729 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-010-4156-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-010-4156-z

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