Morphology and Photocatalytic Performance Regulation of Nd3+-doped BiVO4 with Staggered Band Structure

To investigate the modification mechanism of mixed heterogeneous on photocatalysis, a series of Nd 3+ -doped BiVO 4 photo-catalysts with different Nd 3+ contents were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal reaction. The samples exhibit Nd 3+ content-dependent phase transition from monoclinic to tetragonal phase, as demonstrated by XRD and Raman analyses. SEM images show that the phase transition is accompanied by obvious morphology variation. Less than 1at% Nd 3+ -doped monocline BiVO 4 is composed of irregular particles, while more than 7at% Nd 3+ doping results in tetragonal phase BiVO 4 of sphere-like or kernel with groove surface. When Nd 3+ content is in the range of 1at%-7at%, the micron cuboid bars appear in the samples. More importantly, monoclinic and tetragonal phase is concomitant in the product and a heterogeneous junction with staggered band structure is