Solvothermal synthesis of facet-dependent BiVO4 photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant: assessment of toxicity by zebrafish embryo

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 12993
• Main Authors: Kamble, Ganesh S., Ling, Yong-Chien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 03.08.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/301; 639/638; 639/925; Degradation; Dyes; Embryos; Ethylene glycol; Humanities and Social Sciences; Industrial wastewater; Irradiation; Methylene blue; multidisciplinary; Optical properties; Photocatalysis; Photodegradation; Pollutants; Radiation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Toxicity; Wastewater; Wastewater treatment
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69706-4

The BiVO 4 photocatalyst plays a very important role in photocatalytic reactions attributed to its unique crystalline structure, size, morphology and surface area. Herein, we report a facet-dependent monoclinic scheelite BiVO 4 (m-BiVO 4 ) photocatalyst with uniform truncated square (18 sided) hexagonal bipyramidal shape synthesized by a template-free and surfactant-free solvothermal method using ethylene glycol solvent under cost-effective and mild reactions. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the m-BiVO 4 photocatalyst are widely characterized. The photocatalytic activity of the m-BiVO 4 photocatalyst is tested towards 20 ppm methylene blue (MB) dye aqueous solution as a pollutant model under visible light irradiation. Enhanced visible-light driven photoactivity with dye degradation efficiency of approx. 91% at a rate of 0.388 × 10 −2  min −1 is obtained, presumably due to the presence of high-active (040) facets. Zebrafish embryo toxicity test of treated MB dye solution reveals the degradation and toxicity reduction of the MB dye. Moreover, the recycling experiment validates that the m-BiVO 4 photocatalyst has a great structural stability with reliable performance. This work may provide a lucid and expedient strategy to synthesize highly crystalline (040) facet-dependent semiconductor photocatalyst toward dye degradation and obviously industrial wastewater remediation.