Nanocrystalline ErVO4 as a novel photocatalyst for degradation of organic compounds and solar fuels production

In this work, a novel ErVO 4 photocatalyst was synthesized by means of a facile hydrothermal process at 180 °C. The successful formation of the semiconductor was confirmed by several techniques such as X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance, scanning electron microscopy and N 2 physisorption measurements. The as-prepared sample showed a nanocrystalline nature (with a crystallite size of 10.1 nm) as well as a relative high surface area (110 m 2 /g). The photocatalytic performance was examined by the degradation of methylene blue dye under solar-like irradiation conditions, where the reaction rate was estimated at 9.2 × 10 −5 s −1 according to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. Also, the nanocrystalline ErVO 4 was tested as a potential photocatalyst in the production of solar fuels through the H 2 evolution reaction (HER) using alcohol–water solutions and no other redox mediator. Several alcohol molecules were examined in order to increase the amount of evolved hydrogen during the photocatalytic process. The obtained photoproduction rates for methanol, ethanol and isopropyl alcohol sacrificial agents were 0.73, 0.49, and 0.28 mmol g −1 h −1 , respectively.