Synthesis of BiYO3 nanorods with visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of tetracycline

BiYO3 nanorods were successfully synthesized via the hydrothermal method combined with annealing treatment for the first time. The structure, morphology and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra (FT-IR), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The results show that the as-prepared BiYO3 exhibits the rod-like morphology and also exhibits visible absorbing ability with the band gap of 2.36 eV. Finally, the photocatalytic activity and mechanism of BiYO3 toward the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light are discussed in detail.