Triton X-100 induced cuboid-like BiVO4 microsphere with high photocatalytic performance

A highly active visible light-induced BiVO₄ photocatalyst was prepared by a simple co-precipitation method using ammonia solution as a pH adjustor and Triton X-100 (TX100) as a structure directing agent. The physical properties of the prepared BiVO₄ photocatalyst were investigated by several techniques such as X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis (EDS), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoluminescence (PL), and UV–Vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). XRD results revealed the existence of a monoclinic scheelite structure in both the unmodified and the modified samples. The TX100 played a crucial role to control the cuboid-like shape morphology of BiVO₄. The DRS results showed that the as-prepared cuboid BiVO₄ possessed enhanced visible light absorption range compared with that of the unmodified BiVO₄. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated via indigo carmine (IC) degradation under visible light irradiation. The modified BiVO₄ showed higher photocatalytic efficiency than the unmodified BiVO₄ and the commercial P25-TiO₂ which could be ascribed to the better charge separation efficiency.