Development of photocatalysts based on hybrid nanostructures of BiVO4/WO3, graphitic carbon nitride, and cobalt cubans

• Grant number: 20/02886-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2020
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Juliana dos Santos de Souza Silva
• Grantee: Caroline Helena Claudino
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is considered one of the most promising materials for the development of visible-light sensitive photocatalysts. However, this material exhibits high recombination rates and relatively low stability, which limits its applicability. Tungsten doping and heterojunction formation with tungsten oxide (WO3), are the most promising strategies to increase the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4. Even so, these systems show limitations and do not reach their full potential. The incorporation of the organic semiconductor polymer carbon nitride graphitic (C3N4) to the BiVO4 is also a well-succeed strategy to increase the activity of the material, however, it can inhibit its capacity of generating radical species through an oxidation reaction. The drawback can be overcome by the use of a co-catalyst composed of coordination compounds. This project proposes a combination of the cited strategies to obtain a material with high photocatalytic efficiency. It will be prepared core-shell nanostructures of tungsten doped BiVO4 and WO3, that will be decorated with C3N4 and cobalt cubans complexes. Our group has all the expertise and technical capacity to perform all the preparation steps. The materials will be characterized and used in the degradation process of organic model molecules.