DMF-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of BiVO4/Bi2VO5 Heterojunction Photocatalyst with Highly Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

An unique BiVO 4 /Bi 2 VO 5 heterostructure was fabricated via one-step hydrothermal method. Bi 2 VO 5 was grown in BiVO 4 in situ by adding N , N -dimethylformamide during hydrothermal synthesis. The formation of BiVO 4 /Bi 2 VO 5 heterostructure was confirmed with XRD, XPS, HRTEM, and Raman spectra. DMF addition in the hydrothermal solvent is significant for the formation of Bi 2 VO 5 nanocrystals. Photocatalytic performance displayed that BiVO 4 /Bi 2 VO 5 exhibited superior photocatalytic activity compared to pure BiVO 4 under visible-light irradiation. The active species trapping experiment showed that photogenerated electrons played a critical role in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in BiVO 4 /Bi 2 VO 5 photocatalysis system.The boosted photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the effective separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs at heterojunction BiVO 4 /Bi 2 VO 5 interface. Further, the wide absorption band also favors its exceptional photocatalytic activity.