The effects of precursors and loading of carbon on the photocatalytic activity of C–BiVO4 for the degradation of high concentrations of phenol under visible light irradiation

•The choice of carbon sources affect the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4.•Our photocatalytic system can degrade high concentrations of phenol effectively.•0.5 wt.% carbon loading with cellulose as precursor modified BiVO4 is optimal.•The degradation performance can be improved significantly with KBrO3.•The degradation of phenol under sunlight is effective.

A series of carbon modified BiVO4 (C–BiVO4) photocatalysts were synthesized by impregnation calcination method of BiVO4 with glucose, sucrose and cellulose as precursors, respectively. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, HR-TEM, SEM, Raman, BET, UV–vis DRS and PL. Their photocatalytic activities were investigated by degradation of phenol under the visible light. The precursor and loading of carbon had remarkable effects on physical–chemical properties of samples and degradation activities of phenol. The increase of the number of carbon ring in precursors led to a better crystallinity, smaller grain size, larger surface area and higher separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs. The increase of loading led to a smaller catalyst grain size, larger surface area, higher visible light absorption and higher separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs. The results showed that the 0.5 wt.% of C–BiVO4–cellulose has the best photocatalytic activity and degraded 88.7% of 5 mg/L phenol. Besides, addition of 25 mmol KBrO3 as an electron capture agent can degrade 27.4% of 1000 mg/L phenol. The degradation efficiency of the same system above mentioned under sunlight irradiation was 22.6%. In addition, the relationship between the photocatalytic activity of C–BiVO4 and its physical–chemical properties was also discussed.

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