Constructing a novel hierarchical β-Ag2MoO4/BiVO4 photocatalyst with Z-scheme heterojunction utilizing Ag as an electron mediator

A novel β-Ag₂MoO₄/BiVO₄ heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized via a simple precipitation method. The photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts was assessed by RhB (Rhodamine B) and TC (tetracycline hydrochloride) degradation. Furthermore, the Ag nanoparticles were produced during the photocatalytic degradation process facilitates the construction of Z-scheme system. The XRD, XPS, SEM, EDX, TEM, HR-TEM and BET measurements revealed the structure and morphology properties and the UV–Vis DRS, PL, PT and EIS were used to investigate the optical properties. The results exhibited that the β-Ag₂MoO₄/BiVO₄ heterojunction photocatalyst possess higher photocatalytic activity than individual BiVO₄ and β-Ag₂MoO₄. Furthermore, h⁺ was the most crucial active species in the β-Ag₂MoO₄/Ag/BiVO₄ Z-scheme system according to the reactive species trapping experiments. The potential Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism also was discussed based on experimental and characterization results. This work shows a simple method to construct Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst by self-assembly and demonstrates that photocatalytic technology has great application prospects for water purification.