Butterfly-like BiVO4: Synthesis and Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity

Monoclinic-structured BiVO4 microcrystals with butterfly-like morphology were synthesized with alcoho-hydrothermal method. Compared with irregular morphologies BiVO4, the butterfly-like BiVO4 possessed higher surface area and lower energy band gap, which is conducive to promote the rapid adsorption of organic pollutants on the surface of BiVO4 and absorb the light with lower energy. Photocatalysis experiment results showed that the degradation efficiency of the butterfly-like BiVO4 for degradation MO solution is far higher than irregular morphologies BiVO4. It indicates the excellent photocatalytic activity of the butterfly-like BiVO4 may be related to its special morphology, high surface area, and low band gap energy.