Title: Visible-light photocatalytic activities of ?VO₃ nanorods and BiVO₄ nanobars

Authors: Thresiamma George; Sunny Joseph; Anu Tresa Sunny; Suresh Mathew

Addresses: Holy Kings College of Engineering and Technology, Muvattupuzha 686 667, Kerala, India. ' Department of Physics, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha 686 661, Kerala, India. ' School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam 686 560, Kerala, India. ' School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam 686 560, Kerala, India

Abstract: Monoclinic ?-AgVO₃ nanorods (thickness 30 nm) and monoclinic BiVO₄ nanobars (thickness 15 nm) with high aspect ratio are prepared by controlling the reaction kinetics of room temperature precipitation, without using any capping agents or surfactants. The nanocrystalline vanadates are characterised using XRD, SEM, EDAX, FESEM, TEM and AFM. Possible growth mechanisms of the nanocrystals are explained by the oriented attachment of flocs through an anisotropic growth. Ag nanoparticles are formed in-situ on AgVO₃ nanorods. Using diffuse reflectance spectral analysis the band gaps of ?-AgVO₃ nanorods and BiVO₄ nanobars are calculated and their photocatalytic behaviour is investigated by photodegradation of methylene blue. The ?-AgVO₃ nanorods have higher pore volume compared to BiVO₄ nanobars. The Ag nanoparticles attached on the surface of AgVO₃ nanorods serve as active sites for photocatalysis. Hence silver vanadate nanorods exhibit remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity and are a good candidate for visible light driven photocatalyst.

Keywords: silver vanadate nanorods; soft chemistry; nanobars; vanadates; band gap; nanotechnology; nanoparticles; photocatalysis; pores.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2011.044440

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2011 Vol.8 No.10/11/12, pp.963 - 978

Published online: 24 Dec 2011 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article