Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance of Anodized TiO2 Nanotube Arrays Decorated with BiVO4 Nanoparticles and Its Application for Rhodamine B Degradation

In this paper, we used the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method, and the BiVO4 nanoparticles were successfully deposited on the surface of TiO2 nanotube arrays (NTs). The coupling of BiVO4 and TiO2 NTs significantly improved the photocatalytic activity of Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation by visible light. The prepared heterostructured BiVO4/TiO2 NTs photocatalysts were characterized by field emission scanning microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transient photocurrent responses. The prepared BiVO4/TiO2 NTs-7 showed the significantly improved photocatalytic activity for the degradation of RhB. This excellent photocatalytic performance is attributed to the enhancement of visible light absorption and separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers on heterostructured BiVO4/TiO2 NTs. This simple method could be able to utilize in the preparation of high-performance heterostructures for environmental photocatalytic, sensing, and photo-voltaic applications.