Photocatalytic Activity of Sm-Doped BiVO4 Powders Prepared by Chemical Precipitation Process

Pure BiVO₄, Sm doped BiVO₄ have been prepared by chemical precipitation method and characterized by the techniques such as XRD and SEM. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution was used as a probe reaction to evaluate pure BiVO₄, Sm doped BiVO₄ photocatalytic activity. The results show that doping of Sm decreases the diameter of BiVO4 nano-particles and significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity of BiVO₄. When the 0.2% Sm doped, the BiVO₄ degradation rate reaches 92.8%.