Reduced graphene oxide on a dumbbell-shaped BiVO4 photocatalyst for an augmented natural sunlight photocatalytic activity

• Dumbbell-shaped BiVO4/RGO hybrid composite was targetedly synthesized.
• Dumbbell-shaped BiVO4/RGO composite exhibited augmented photocatalytic activity under natural sunlight irradiation.
• The cycle-stabilized photocatalytic performances of the composites were been probed.

A simple and efficient route for the controllable synthesis of dumbbell-shaped BiVO4 hierarchical structures at a large scale with uniform size and shape distributions was demonstrated, where the as-synthesized BiVO4 products were then incorporated with prepared reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets to form dumbbell-shaped BiVO4/RGO composites. The obtained composites were well characterized with the aid of various techniques to study their morphological, physical, optical, and photo-chemical properties. Photocatalytic capacities of the pure BiVO4 dumbbells and BiVO4/RGO composites have been evaluated by investigating the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB)-contained wastewater under natural sunlight irradiation, where a noticeable augmentation in the natural-sunlight-driven decolorization efficiency (approx. 26% increase compared with that of pure BiVO4) of RhB could be achieved on the prepared BiVO4/RGO composites under experimentally optimum conditions. The cycle-stabilized photocatalytic performances of the BiVO4/RGO composites have also been probed.

Facile synthesis of dumbbell-shaped BiVO4 hierarchical structures/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) hybrid (BiVO4/RGO) composite was reported. The prepared composite exhibited augmented natural-sunlight-driven photocatalytic activity in the degradation of RhB, which could be attributed to the enhanced light absorption efficiency and reduced charge recombination rate within the hybrid structures with the presence of RGO.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (104 K)Download as PowerPoint slide