Enhanced photocatalytic activity of SiC modified by BiVO₄ under visible light irradiation

Abstract

SiC-BiVO₄-P and SiC-BiVO₄-H composites have been prepared by precipitation method and hydrothermal method, respectively. Rod-like BiVO₄ particles dispersed on the surface of micro-sized SiC particles homogeneously in SiC-BiVO₄-H. Due to the formed heterostructure between BiVO₄ and SiC, photo-generated electrons and holes were effectively separated. Under visible light irradiation, SiC-BiVO₄-H exhibited the best performance for photocatalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B, achieved about 7.5 times improvement in photocatalytic degradation rate constants compared with that of the pristine SiC powder. The possible photocatalysis mechanism of SiC/BiVO₄ related to the band positions of the semiconductors under visible light irradiation was also discussed in detail. In addition, the radicals trapping experiments revealed that all three radicals (holes, OH, and O₂⁻) play an important role in the Rhodamine B degradation.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• BiVO₄
• heterostructure
• RhB
• SiC
• visible light

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific and Technological Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, China (Grant No. KJ1504401).