Substrate Temperature Induced (040) Growth Facets of Nebulizer Sprayed BiVO4 Thin Films for Effective Photodegradation of Rhodamine B

The high-efficient and visible-light active monoclinic BiVO4 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 BiVO4 films are analyzed using XRD, HRTEM, UV spectrometer, and Raman analysis. The BiVO4 thin film deposited at 350 degrees 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 BiVO4 thin films. It is worth to mention that the obtained monoclinic scheelite BiVO4 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.