Self-assembly synthesis of BiVO4/Polydopamine/g-C3N4 with enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance

Abstract BiVO 4 /PDA(Polydopamine)/g-C 3 N 4 was synthesized by facile ultrasonic dispersion and self-assembly at the room temperature, and monoclinic BiVO 4 was embedded on PDA/g-C 3 N 4 sheet, which PDA was first formed in situ on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 via self-polymerization of dopamine. The dependence of photocatalytic activity on the structural, electronic and optical properties of the BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 nanostructure has been explored using XRD, XPS, TEM, SEM, DRS, PL, BET and photocurrent. The BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts show higher activity of glyphosate degradation than BiVO 4 , g-C 3 N 4 and BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 under visible light irradiation. The enhanced activity of BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 can be significantly attributed to the improved visible light absorption, enhanced specific surface area and increased charge separation. PDA has a strong and irreversible binding ability onto BiVO 4 and g-C 3 N 4 to form BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 . This simple method at the room temperature is promising for the synthesis of high performance composite photocatalysts for different applications, such as pollutant degradation, photocatalytic splitting water, etc.