Ag 3 VO 4 Nanoparticles Decorated Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 Micro-Flowers: An Efficient Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalyst for the Removal of Toxic Contaminants.

Semiconductor-based photocatalysis is of great potential for tackling the environmental pollution. Herein, a novel hierarchical heterostructure of Bi2 O2 CO3 micro-flowers in-situ decorated with Ag3 VO4 nanoparticles was developed by a facile method. Various characterization techniques have been employed to study the physical and chemical property of the novel catalyst. The novel catalyst was utilized for the photocatalytic removal of industrial dyes (rhodamine B, methyl orange) and tetracycline antibiotic under visible-light irradiation. The results indicated that Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 heterojunctions showed a remarkably enhanced activity, significantly higher than those of bare Ag3 VO4 , Bi2 O2 CO3 , and the physical mixture of Ag3 VO4 and Bi2 O2 CO3 samples. This could be ascribed to an enhanced visible-light harvesting capacity and effective separation of charge carriers by virtue of the construction of hierarchical Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 heterojunction. Moreover, Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 also possesses an excellent cycling stability. The outstanding performance of Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 in removal of toxic pollutants indicates the potential of Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 in real environmental remediation. Highlights Novel architectures of Ag3 VO4 nanoparticles modified Bi2 O2 CO3 micro-flowers were constructed.Novel Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and stability.Ag3 VO4 /Bi2 O2 CO3 heterojunctions significantly promote the charge separation.