One-pot synthesis of Ag+ doped BiVO4 microspheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity via a facile hydrothermal method

•The novel photocatalyst of Ag+/BiVO4 has been fabricated by hyderthermal method.•K6V10O28·9H2O was used as vanadium source.•The photocatalytic activity of Ag+/BiVO4 was significantly enhanced.

The Ag+/BiVO4 photocatalyst was fabricated through a facile hydrothermal method by using K6V10O28·9H2O as the vanadium source. The impact of Ag+ on the product's structure and morphology was studied. It was shown that the amount of Ag+ has no effect on the product’s crystal phases but plays an important role on the morphology of the nanoparticles that construct the shell of BiVO4 microspheres. In addition, the Ag+-doped photocatalysts have much higher photocatalytic activities in removing RhB and MB under the UV light illumination than the pure BiVO4. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed in photoexcitation of the BiVO4 electrons which subsequently captured by the dopant. The present work may offer a novel route to reach higher photocatalytic activity by doping the Ag+ in the semiconductor catalysts.

Graphical abstractThe Ag+/BiVO4 photocatalysts with different microscopic morphology was first developed by hydrothermal method using decavanadate (K6V10O28·9H2O) as vanadium source. The as-prepared samples showed higher photocatalytic activity compared to pure BiVO4.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide