Effect of Gold Nanoparticles on the Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Performance of Au Modified BiVO4

An efficient visible light driven photocatalyst, gold nanoparticles（NPs） modified Bi VO4（Au/Bi VO4）, has been synthesized by deposition-precipitation with urea method. Au/Bi VO4 exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity for phenol degradation underλ>400 nm irradiation but negligible activity underλ>535 nm,indicating that the surface plasmon resonance（SPR） effect is too weak for organic photodegradation. According to the photoelectrochemical results of the porous powder electrodes of Bi VO4 and Au/Bi VO4, the SPR effect of Au NPs has been assessed. The role of Au NPs as electron sinks or sources, which is controllable by incident photon energy and applied potentials, has been discussed.