Synthesis and Optical Properties of Size-Quantized BiVO4 Semiconductor Particles with Tetragonal Zircon-Type Structure

The optical characteristics of semiconductor’s particles are strongly dependent on physicochemical properties and reduced size of the system. Decreasing the size of the material causes the increasing of the ratio between the number of atoms on the surface and the number of atoms inside the particle, that is, increasing of specific surface area and surface defects. Due to their high surface-area-to-volume ratio and increased number of active sites on the surface, the nanostructured materials with altered optical properties compared to the bulk material, are preferable for catalytic reactions. In this paper, ultra-small and very crystalline zircon-nanostructured bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) semiconductor was prepared by ethylene glycol-assisted synthesis. The nanoparticles have radius between 2 and 8 nm, as shown by TEM images, and high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area. The optical, structural, microstructural and photocatalytic properties were examined in detail. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique confirmed the occurrence of Bi, V, and O elements and also found that Bi and V exist in +3 and +5 oxidation states, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was checked using methyl orange (MO) under UV/Vis and Solar illumination. The photocatalytic performance was compared to commercial TiO2 powder. The results showed tetragonal zircon-type nanostructured BiVO4 as a promising catalyst for rapid removal of pollutants from wastewaters.