Microwave hydrothermal synthesis of BiP1 − xVxO4/attapulgite nanocomposite with efficient photocatalytic performance for deep desulfurization.

Novel V doped BiPO 4 /attapulgite nanocomposites (BiP 1 − x V x O 4 /ATP) were prepared via microwave-hydrothermal method. XRD, TEM, FT-IR, UV–Vis and XPS were employed to characterize the powder products. It was found that the ATP nanofibers favored the controllable assembly of Bi-based nanoparticles on its surface. Adequate V doping generated BiP 1 − x V x O 4 solid solution in conjunction with co-precipitated BiVO 4 , which formed dumbbell-shaped heterostructure of BiP 1 − x V x O 4 /BiVO 4 as also proved by DFT calculations. The molar fraction of V doping played a significant role in the photocatalytic desulfurization. Results showed that the desulfurization rate achieved 90% under solar light irradiation when x was optimized to be 0.6, due to the reason that in addition to the contribution of ATP fibers with adsorption capacity, the staggered heterostructure BiP 1 − x V x O 4 /BiVO 4 not only promoted the solar light harvesting, but also accelerated the migration of charges, thus improved the desulfurization efficiency of the powders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]