Effect of Small Change in Reaction Conditions on the Size of Monoclinic BiVO4 Nanoparticles and Their Photocatalytic Abilities

BiVO4 is an effective material and highly used in different applications. Here, we have synthesized BiVO4 using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate and ammonium metavanadate by simple reflux condensation method without addition of any surfactant. To check the effect on the structure and activity of BiVO4 different ratios of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate to ammonium metavanadate e. g. 1 : 1, 1 : 2 and 2 : 1 were used. Obtained BiVO4 nanomaterial was successfully analysed using various analytical techniques such X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The nanoparticles were shown spherical morphology, high porosity and monoclinic scheelite (m) crystalline phase. It was observed that BiVO4 nanoparticles prepared using 1 : 1 ratio have very small size as compared to those prepared using other ratios. Further, the photocatalytic activity of the BiVO4 nanoparticles was assessed by photodegradation of crystal violet dye (CV) under visible light irradiation and found that the particles prepared with 1 : 1 ratio were showing high efficiency of degradation. In addition, prepared nanoparticles have shown good antibacterial properties.