Synthesis and characterization of Bi/Bi2S3/BiVO4 nanocomposite by sonochemical method and investigation of its photocatalytic performance in dibenzothiophene desulfurization
摘要
In this study, bismuth/bismuth sulfide/bismuth vanadate nanocomposites were synthesized by sonochemical method using ammonium metavanadate, bismuth nitrate, and thioacetamide reagents in the presence of hydrazine. This method has been noticed due to the high speed in the production of nanoparticles with desirable characteristics. The purity, morphology, and structure of the produced nanocomposites were identified by XRD, DRS, FT-IR, BET, EDS-mapping, and FESEM analysis. XRD results showed that nanocomposite is produced in amorphous phase without calcination, while by calcination at temperatures of 350, 400, and 500 °C under argon gas, nanocomposite with different crystalline compounds including BiVO4/Bi2S3, BiVO4/BiS, and BiVO4/Bi2O3 is formed, respectively. It was found that sulfur is removed at a temperature of 500 °C, and therefore, the temperature ranges from 350 to 450 °C is an appropriate temperature for the formation of bismuth/ bismuth vanadate/bismuth sulfide nanocomposite. The DRS results showed extensive light absorption by the synthesized nanocomposites, so that a high photocatalytic desulfurization capability was achieved by Bi/Bi2S3/BiVO4 with an efficiency of 99% in 30 min under visible light. The efficiency of the Bi/ Bi2S3/BiVO4 photocatalyst decreased from 99 to 96% after four cycles, indicating that the synthesized photocatalyst has good stability.