Reactable ionic liquid assisted synthesis of BiPO4 and the influences of solvent on structure, morphology and photocatalytic performance

Bismuth phosphate (BiPO4) has been researched as one of the important bismuth-containing salts with high-efficient photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation. However, the morphologies and microstructures of BiPO4 photocatalyst on photocatalytic activity have not been clearly investigated. Herein, BiPO4 photocatalyst with various morphologies and microstructures have been synthesized via a facile reactable ionic liquid [Omim]H2PO4 assisted solvothermal process in H2O, ethanol, ethylene glycol (EG) and ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME), respectively. The photocatalytic ability of the as-prepared samples was evaluated using ciprofloxacin (CIP) as target pollutant. The result implied that different photocatalytic activities for CIP degradation is mainly attributed to different morphologies and microstructures of BiPO4 samples prepared in different solvents. The BiPO4 sample which was prepared under H2O condition showed the highest photocatalytic activity. In addition, inorganic salt NaH2PO4 center dot 2H(2)O was utilized to prepare BiPO4 samples instead of [Omim]H2PO4. It can be found that the photocatalytic efficiency of BiPO4 prepared via ionic liquid exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than that of inorganic salt for the degradation of CIP under UV light irradiation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.