FeV₃O₈ Nanorods for Photodegrading Multiple Dyes

One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures have attracted considerable attention in the field of environmental purification and energy conversion. In this paper, 1D FeV 3 O 8 nanorods with 100 nm diameter and about 1 μm length were synthesized via a facile benign route without any surfactants. The crystal structure morphology and chemical composition of the samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and UV–vis and Raman spectroscopy. According to the results, the monoclinic phase of FeV 3 O 8 nanorods is a narrow band gap of 2.38 eV (HOMO, 0.81 eV; LUMO, −1.57 eV). The as-prepared FeV 3 O 8 nanorod has a large specific surface area of 20.006 m 2 g –1 . It could degrade 100% of Rhodamine B (RhB, 25 mg L –1 ) and 99% of Methylene blue (MB, 20 mg L –1 ) within 25 min and still can achieve 98% after four catalytic cycles, which is far better than a commercial TiO 2 catalyst (P25). A nucleation–nanoparticle–nanoflower–nanorod growth mechanism (4N mechanism) for the FeV 3 O 8 nanocrystals was proposed. Moreover, on the basis of the radical quenching and electron paramagnetic resonance tests, a possible photo-Fenton degradation mechanism was proposed. • OH was found to be the best active species during the degradation reactions. Results from this work show that the FeV 3 O 8 catalyst exhibited an excellent photocatalytic performance and durability toward the degradation of multiple organic pollutants in a neutral system.