One-dimensional photocatalysts of AVO4 (A = Bi, Fe)/carbon nanofibers frameworks: an alternative strategy in improving photocatalytic activities

This work provided an efficient alternative strategy to improve the performance of AVO4 (A = Bi, Fe)-based materials for organic degradations under visible light. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as a flexible template were obtained by an electrospinning technique, then AVO4 as the primary visible light-absorbers were succesfully grown on the surface of template frameworks for producing AVO4/CNFs heterostructures via a hydrothermal method. Photocatalytic studies revealed removal efficiencies were greatly increased when CNFs were introduced into AVO4 heterostructures, compared with pure BiVO4 and FeVO4, with 94 and 90.6% of RB photocatalytically degraded by BiVO4/CNFs and FeVO4/CNFs heterostructures within 3 h under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity might have arisen from the high separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs based on positive synergetic effects between AVO4 and CNFs heterojunctions. These heterostructures were easily recycled without a decrease in photocatalytic activity benefited from the nanofibers frameworks. Moreover, this paper confirmed a simple and a general method for fabricating other VO4-containing oxides heterostructures.