AUTHOR=Channei Duangdao , Nakaruk Auppatham , Khanitchaidecha Wilawan , Jannoey Panatda , Phanichphant Sukon 

TITLE=Adsorption and Photocatalytic Processes of Mesoporous SiO2-Coated Monoclinic BiVO4

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2018.00415

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2018.00415

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>The silicon dioxide (SiO<sub>2</sub>)–coated bismuth vanadate (BiVO<sub>4</sub>) composites as visible–driven–photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by the co–precipitation method. The effects of SiO<sub>2</sub> coating on the structure, optical property, morphology and surface properties of the composites were investigated by X–ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer–Emmette–Teller (BET) measurements. The photocatalytic activity of monoclinic BiVO<sub>4</sub> and BiVO<sub>4</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub> composites were evaluated according to the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The SiO<sub>2−</sub>coated BiVO<sub>4</sub> composites showed the enhancing photocatalytic activity approximately threefold in comparison with the single phase BiVO<sub>4</sub>.</p>