Sonochemical Synthesis of Copper-doped BiVO₄/g-C₃N₄ Nanocomposite Materials for Photocatalytic Degradation of Bisphenol A under Simulated Sunlight Irradiation

Abstract

Copper-doped bismuth vanadate/graphitic carbon nitride (BiVO4/g-C3N4) nanocomposite materials were successfully fabricated using a sonochemical approach. Cu-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 nanocomposite photocatalysts could improve electron/hole (e−/h+) pair separation, stability, and light-harvesting efficiency compared to pristine BiVO4 or g-C3N4, resulting in the enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The optimal parameters, such as pH value at 10, photocatalyst dosage of 0.4 g L−1, and 10 mol% Cu-doped BiVO4/g-C3N4 photocatalyst, were determined to degrade initial concentration of 20 ppm Bisphenol A, which could be completely removed after 90 min. Furthermore, the excessive doping of copper (> 10 mol%) could not synthesize the pure monoclinic scheelite phase, which substantially resulted in the reduction of the photocatalytic activity.

Keywords

• sonochemical synthesis
• composite nanomaterials
• photocatalytic degradation