Halide Effects in BiVO4/BiOX Heterostructures Decorated with Pd Nanoparticles for Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B as a Model Organic Pollutant

Abstract

In this contribution, a single pot approach was employed to synthesize nanoscale BiVO4/BiOX/Pd, where the halogen was varied over Cl, Br, and I. These materials were used to study the effect of the halide identity in the BiOX nanoplate component for its ability to modulate/maximize the photocatalytic properties of the materials. Once the nanomaterials were fully characterized via a suite of approaches, their reactivity for the degradation of rhodamine B, a model pollutant, was examined. All of the materials demonstrated high photocatalytic rates, reaching completion in <10 min in most cases. The results demonstrated that the BiVO4/BiOCl/Pd and BiVO4/BiOBr/Pd have significantly enhanced reactivity compared to the BiVO4/BiOI/Pd structures. Further studies using the BiVO4/BiOBr/Pd in the degradation of rhodamine B in natural water samples indicated that the materials retained their reactivity, demonstrating their potential use in environmental systems.