Substrate Temperature Induced (020) Growth Facets of Nebulizer Sprayed BiVO 4 Thin Films for Effective Photodegradation of Rhodamine B

• Published in: Crystal research and technology (1979) 2019-01, Vol.54 (1)
• Main Authors: Ravidhas, Chellathurai, Arivukarasan, Dharmalingam, Venkatesh, Ramadoss, Suresh, Esther Santhoshi Monica, Anitha, Balasubramanian, Josephine, Arokiaraj Juliat, Ezhil Raj, Arthur Ayyadurai Moses, Ravichandran, Krishna Samy, Gopalakrishnan, Chandrasekaran, Sanjeeviraja, Chinnappanadar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0232-1300; 1521-4079
• DOI: 10.1002/crat.201700257

The high‐efficient and visible‐light active monoclinic BiVO 4 thin films with preferentially oriented (020) facets are successfully deposited by nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique. The role of substrate temperature over crystal growth facets and other physical properties of BiVO 4 films are analyzed using XRD, HRTEM, UV spectrometer, and Raman analysis. The BiVO 4 thin film deposited at 350 °C possesses broad absorbance in the visible region with highly exposed (020) facet is obtained. Room temperature photoluminescence analysis is used to understand the effective charge separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pair in BiVO 4 thin films. It is worth to mention that the obtained monoclinic scheelite BiVO 4 film with preferentially oriented (020) facet has large surface areas to produce greater number of reactive hydroxyl radicals, for the effective photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye. Total organic content (TOC) study is conducted to examine the mineralization of organic compounds present in rhodamine B dye.