Synthesis and characterization of BiVO4nanoparticles for environmental applications

Abstract

In the present study, a chemical precipitation method is adopted to synthesize bismuth vanadate nanoparticles. The calcination temperature dependent photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of BiVO4nanoparticles are examined. The structural analysis evidences the monoclinic phase of BiVO4nanoparticles, where the grain size increases with calcination temperature. Interestingly, BiVO4nanoparticles calcined at 400 °C exhibit superior photocatalytic behaviour against methylene blue dye (K= 0.02169 min-1) under natural solar irradiation, which exhibits good stability for up to three cycles. The evolution of antibacterial activity studies using a well diffusion assay suggest that the BiVO4nanoparticles calcined at 400 °C can act as an effective growth inhibitor of pathogenic Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa&A. baumannii) and Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus).