Hydrothermal synthesis of phosphate-doped BiVO4 with exposed (010) facets and enhanced sunlight-driven photocatalytic properties

• PO4-doped mBiVO4 with exposed (010) facets is first hydrothermally synthesized.
• The amount of PO4 plays the vital role on crystal growth of BiVO4 along (010) facets.
• PO4-doped mBiVO4 is first reported to photodegrade organic dyes.
• 5% PO4-doped BiVO4 exhibits high photocatalytic activity.
• The exposed (010) facets help to separate photogenerated electron-hole pairs.

Phosphate-doped monoclinic BiVO4 (mBiVO4) single-crystalline sheets with exposed (010) facets were synthesized by a surfactant-free hydrothermal route for the first time. The results indicate that the appropriate addition of PO4 oxoanion has significant influence on the crystal growth of mBiVO4 along (010) facets, as well as morphology of the products. The sheet-like mBiVO4 doped with 5% PO4 oxoanion possesses the highest intensity ratio of I(040)/I(121), and exhibits the best sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance for methylene blue degradation. The exposed (010) facets of the PO4-doped mBiVO4 which is in favor of increasing the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs plays a leading role on the enhanced photocatalytic activity of 5% PO4-doped mBiVO4.