Synthesis of mono-dispersed m-BiVO4 octahedral nano-crystals with enhanced visible light photocatalytic properties

Abstract

Mono-dispersed monoclinic bismuth vanadate (m-BiVO₄) octahedral single crystals were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal route in the presence of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). Electron microscope observation revealed that the synthesized m-BiVO₄ octahedral single crystals were grown with preferentially facets {120} and {021}. The size of these single crystalline octahedra could be facially adjusted in a broad range from 5 μm to less than 200 nm. The influences of additive SDBS, reaction time and acid concentration were studied to understand the formation process, and hence a typical super-saturation process combined Oswald ripening process was proposed. Furthermore, these octahedral single crystals exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance determined by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation.