Synthesis of nanosized Ag3VO4 particles and their photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine B under visible light

By a simple coprecipitation process, a series of Ag3VO4 samples with crystalline particles front 100 nm to 5 mu m were successfully synthesized at temperature of 0-80 degrees C. The addition of polyethyleneglycol in the synthetic system resulted in the formation of nanosized particles with 50-100 rim. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation showed that the Ag3VO4 samples, particularly the nanosized Ag3VO4 sample, were much more active than the commercial photocatalyst titania P25. In addition, after 4 recycles, there was no significant decrease in the photocatalytic activity of Ag3VO4 samples, indicating that the Ag3VO4 was a stable photocatalyst for degradation of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation.