Efficient visible light photodegradation of BiVO₄:Yb³⁺/Tm³⁺ with high content of tetragonal phase

Abstract

In photocatalytic studies, tetragonal bismuth vanadate (t-BiVO₄) is not promising due to its wide band gap. However, according to previous studies, the tetragonal phase is inevitable when the monoclinic bismuth vanadate (m-BiVO₄) is modified. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to improve the photoresponse and photocatalytic ability of t-BiVO₄ under visible light. In this study, Yb³⁺ and Tm³⁺ co-doped BiVO₄ was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method, and its microstructure, morphology and optical properties were characterized and analyzed by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, X-ray diffraction, Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectra, photoluminescence, upconversion luminescence and other means. The results show that BiVO₄:Yb³⁺/Tm³⁺ (BVYT) has a high content of tetragonal phase (about 80%), showing the characteristics of t-BiVO₄. BVYT shows a higher separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers, its transient photocurrent response intensity increased by about 3 times, and the photocatalytic efficiency is significantly improved compare with the undoped m-BiVO₄. Under simulated sunlight, BVYT completely degraded methylene blue (MB) solution and rhodamine B solution in 45 and 90 min, respectively, and the reaction rate was significantly improved. BVYT also shows excellent photocatalytic ability under visible light, about 35% of MB solution was degraded within 45 min under visible light irradiation (> 420 nm), this is because Yb³⁺ effectively promotes the upconversion luminescence of Tm³⁺ in response to visible light, and the energy cycle mechanism of Yb-Tm-Tm is proposed. Consequently, BiVO₄ with high content of tetragonal phase has excellent photoactivity, even exceeding m-BiVO₄. This is a novel discovery in the field of photocatalysis, which provides a broader application prospect for BiVO₄ in photocatalysis.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

photocatalysis / bismuth vanadate / rare earth / upconversion luminescence

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51974168), Science and Technology Major Project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China (Grant Nos. 2019ZD023 and 2021ZD0028) and State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures (Wuhan University of Technology) (Grant No. SYSJJ2020-08).

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Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-024-2473-6 and is accessible for authorized users.

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