One-pot hydrothermal fabrication of BiVO4/Fe3O4/rGO composite photocatalyst for the simulated solar light-driven degradation of Rhodamine B

Fabrication of easily recyclable photocatalyst with excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater is highly desirable for practical application. In this study, a novel ternary magnetic photocatalyst BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /reduced graphene oxide (BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /rGO) was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal strategy. The BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 with 0.5 wt% of rGO (BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /0.5% rGO) exhibited superior activity, degrading greater than 99% Rhodamine B (RhB) after 120 min solar light radiation. The surface morphology and chemical composition of BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /rGO were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The free radicals scavenging experiments demonstrated that hole (h + ) and superoxide radical (O 2 •− ) were the dominant species for RhB degradation over BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /rGO under solar light. The reusability of this composite catalyst was also investigated after five successive runs under an external magnetic field. The BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /rGO composite was easily separated, and the recycled catalyst retained high photocatalytic activity. This study demonstrates that catalyst BiVO 4 /Fe 3 O 4 /rGO possessed high dye removal efficiency in water treatment with excellent recyclability from water after use. The current study provides a possibility for more practical and sustainable photocatalytic process.