Synthesis and photocatalytic behavior of BiVO4 with decahedral structure

Decahedral BiVO4 was successfully synthesized with Tween-80 as a template by the microwave hydrothermal method. The effects of hydrothermal temperature and Tween-80 on crystal phase and morphology of the obtained BiVO4 were investigated. The crystal phase and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results indicated that the as-prepared decahedral BiVO4 was monoclinic. The photocatalytic behavior for methylene blue (MB) degradation was enhanced with the assistance of an appropriate amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic tests indicated that the photocatalytic efficiency of decahedral BiVO4 synthesized at 180 °C was 63.5%. However, BiVO4 sample synthesized at 160 °C showed the highest photocatalytic degradation rate, up to 81.6%, due to its small size and crystal defects.