Hydrothermal synthesis of PrVO4 nanocubes with enhanced photocatalytic performance through a synergistic effect

Novel tetragonal PrVO4 nanocubes have been fabricated by a simple and green hydrothermal method. The excellent catalytic activity of the samples was investigated for the degradation of methylene blue aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. As compared with pure PrVO4 and H2O2, the photocatalytic efficiency of the PrVO4/H2O2 system was enhanced about 1.5 and 9 folds, respectively. In the whole photocatalytic process, h(+) and center dot OH radicals played the dominant roles on the basis of the trapping test. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to the synergistic effect between photocatalytic oxidation of PrVO4 and heterogeneous photo-Fentonlike reaction of V(V)/H2O2. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.