Yidi Wang, Bowen Li, Guanshu Li, Youtao Song

College of Environment, Liaoning University

Yingying Huang, Dawei Fang, Jun Wang

College of Chemistry, Liaoning University

A b s t r a c t

Three crystal phases of BiPO₄ (HBIP, nMBIP and mMBIP), corresponding photocatalysts (Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/ HBIP, Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/nMBIP and Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/mMBIP) and their nanocomposite photocatalyst (Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/(H-nM-mM)BIP) were prepared by hydrothermal, ultrasonic dispersion and liquid boiling methods. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). The catalytic activity of prepared photocatalysts was evaluated via photocatalytic conversion rate of nitrite under ultraviolet-light, visible-light and simulated solar-light irradiations. These three photocatalysts all exhibited excellent performance under simulated solar-light irradiation and reached 85.36%, 84.42% and 78.53% conversion rates, respectively, for Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/mMBIP, Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/nMBIP and Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/HBIP. Particularly, Er³⁺:Y₃Al₅O₁₂/(H-nM-mM)BIP was also found to play a high catalytic activity, resulting in 78.68%, 70.04% and 82.57% conversion rates, respectively, under ultraviolet-light, visible-light and simulated solar-light irradiation. In addition, the study of used times showed that the prepared photocatalysts can be effectively recycled without an apparent inactivation on the photocatalytic activity. This research may provide a potential way for converting nitrite and other contaminants by utilizing solar energy efficiently.

Read the full article here:   89-Photocatalytic conversion of nitrite in aqueous solution over nanocomposite photocatalyst Er3+Y3Al5O12BiPO4 using different photosources.pdf