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ACS Omega. November 16, 2021; 6(47): 31716-31726. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c04400. eCollection November 30, 2021.

The photoreduction of Cd (II) to Cd (0) is carried out using Bi4V2O11. Tb3+ doped Bi4V2O11 greatly enhances this effect. This research has deeply studied the relationship between carrier isolation and light collection, and discovered a promising technology for preparing effective heavy metal photocatalysts. Due to the size difference between the V5+ and Tb3+ cations in the Bi4V2O11 nanomaterials, the lattice disorder effect is replaced by the constant Tb3+ cations of different concentrations (x = 15, 20 and 25%). Bi4V2O11 and 15% Tb/Bi4V2O11 prove the coexistence of monoclinic system (α phase) with CS/m symmetry, while 25% Tb/Bi4V2O11 is a tetragonal system (γ phase) with I4/mmm symmetry. The Raman scattering experiment clarified the Bi4V2O11 lattice change corresponding to the oxygen movement, indicating that the VO4 tetrahedron is significantly unstable after adding Tb3+. The SEM micrograph shows the difference in the microstructure of the 25% Tb/Bi4V2O11 sample with reduced grain size. However, the TEM micrographs of the 25% Tb/Bi4V2O11 nanomaterials show that the crystallite size of 25-35 nm is obtained, presenting a single tetragonal phase, which is highly uniform in nature. Impedance spectroscopy is used to study the conductivity of these compounds in the temperature range of 300 °C. At 300 °C, the conductivity of the compound with x = 25% is 15.92 S cm-1. The conductivity value was found to be comparable to the highest value reported in the literature for similar compounds.

PMID: 34869995 | PMC: PMC8638003 | DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c04400