| Bandgap Engineering of BiVO4 Nanocrystal: Enhancement of Visible Light Photoactivity |
| Paper ID : 1170-ICNS |
| Authors: |
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Mahsa Golmohammadi1, Ali Asghar Sabbagh Alvani *2, Hassan Sameie1, Reza Salimi1 1Color & Polymer Research Center (CPRC), Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran,Iran 2Color and Polymer Research Center (CPRC), Amirkabir University of Technology |
| Abstract: |
| To date, metal oxides are the type of semiconductor that extensively studied for photocatalytic applications because of their low cost, high chemical and photo-stability, and ease of fabrication. Among them, ternary metal oxides containing Bi element such as BiVO4 have narrower band gap with promising visible light absorption ability. But, efficiency of BiVO4 is low due to low carrier mobility and poor electron transport. In this study, Ag-decorated BiVO4 nanocomposites were successfully synthesized with using hydrothermal method. Structural and optical characteristics were comprehensively investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Diffuse Reflection Spectroscopy (DRS). The XRD analysis illustrated that the tetragonal crystal structure of BiVO4 nanoparticles is formed in hydrothermal process and BiVO4-Ag have monoclinic scheelite structure. Furthermore, Formation of heterojunctions by coupling plasmonic nanostructures with semiconductors can greatly enhance the activity of photocatalysts by plasmonic energy transfer from the metal nanostructure to the semiconductor. Plasmonics has proven particularly promising effect in extending the light absorption range of semiconductors. Photon absorption and charge generation/separation generally be affected by surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena. Compared to pure BiVO4, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy showed that the absorption of BiVO4-Ag increases due to the plasmonic effect that causes to prolong and suppress electron-hole pair recombination. |
| Keywords: |
| Photocatalyst, Ag nanoparticles, Plasmonic Effect, Bandgap Engineering |
| Status : Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation) |