A novel three-dimensional heterojunction photocatalyst for the photocatalytic oxidation of crystal violet and reduction of Cr6

A novel 3-D heterojunction photocatalyst Ag2CO3/BiVO4 was successfully fabricated. It exhibits excellent photocatalytic performances for the photocatalytic oxidation of crystal violet and reduction of Cr6+, which is ascribed to the suppression of charge recombination, and increasing lifetime of the charge carriers confirmed by the result of time-resolved fluorescence emission decay spectra and photoelectrochemical measures. The electron spin resonance result also suggests that heterojunction structure can improve separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and favor to form •OH radicals. Moreover, ten intermediates and products for the photocatalytic oxidation degradation of crystal violet are identified by GC-MS. •A novel 3-D heterojunction photocatalyst Ag2CO3/BiVO4 was successfully fabricated.•Heterojunction plays the role for increasing lifetime of the charge carriers.•EPR result suggests that the heterojunction structure favor to form OH radicals.•The photocatalytic enhancement mechanism for Cr6+ reduction and CV oxidation was discussed.