Soft optical phonon in ferroelastic BiVO4

We report the observation of an underdamped q～O soft optical phonon in the Raman spectra of the paraelastic and ferroelastic phases of BiVO₄. This mode has the same symmetry as the ferroelastic strain. The temperature dependence of the soft optical phonon energy indicates that the ferroelastic transition is continuous and that the order parameter has a Landau-type behavior over a wide temperature range.     

Mechanism of the ferroelastic transition of BiVO4

BiVO₄ has a pure ferroelastic transition at T_c = 528°K and atmospheric pressure. We elucidated the mechanism of this transition by studying the q≈0 soft optical phonon, with the symmetry of the ferroelastic strain, under large hydrostatic prèssures at room temperature. A free-energy analysis, including the optical-acoustical phonon couplings, shows that the transition is driven by the q≈0 soft optical phonon.     

Visible-Light Activities of Erbium Doped BiVO4 Photocatalysts

采用水热合成法,制备出Er掺杂的BiVO₄复合光催化剂,并采用XRD、SEM、XPS和紫外-可见漫反射光谱技术对其进行分析表征．通过可见光下降解水溶液中甲基橙分子来考察其光催化性能,结果显示掺杂组份以氧化物Er₂O₃形式存在于的复合光催化剂中;且掺杂复合光催化剂的可见光吸收和催化活性都比纯BiVO₄有所增强．     

Synthesis and characterization of Ag/BiVO4 composite photocatalyst

Ag/BiVO₄ composite photocatalysts were hydrothermal synthesized and characterized by XRD, SEM, XPS and DRS techniques. Their photocatalytic activities were determined by oxidative decomposition of methyl orange in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. It revealed that the doped Ag species greatly improved the visible light absorption abilities and morphologies of the composites, and thus lead to enhanced photocatalytic activities compared with that of the pure BiVO₄.     

51V nuclear magnetic resonance in polycrystalline ferroelastic BiVO4

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies on polycrystalline ferroelastic BiVO₄ indicate that the ⁵¹V electric field gradient asymmetry parameter is an order parameter in the ferroelastic transition. Using ∩ = A(T?T_c)^B, B is found to be 0.48(5), in good agreement with earlier studies of this material. Near the phase transition above and below, the vanadium nuclear quadrupole coupling is constant with a value of 4.8(1) MHz.     

水热法制备不同形貌和结构的BiVO4粉末

采用水热合成法,选择不同比例的起始原料、反应温度、反应时间、pH值和表面活性剂,制备出不同形貌和结构的BiVO₄粉末.采用X射线衍射、透射电子显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、拉曼、傅里叶红外和紫外-可见吸收光谱技术对产物进行分析表征.结果表明,提高n_Bi/n_V或反应液pH值,可得到纯的单斜晶系白钨矿型BiVO₄粉末;水热温度和水热时间的不同则得到不同尺寸和内部结构的BiVO₄粉末.另外,不同表面活性剂的加入则主要影响BiVO₄的微观形貌. 关键词： 4')" href="#">BiVO₄ 水热法 光催化     

Dielectric behavior,conduction and EPR active centres in BiVO4 nanoparticles

Bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) nanomaterials were synthesized by mechano-chemical ball milling method and complementary investigations were devoted to their structures, nanoparticle morphologies and electronic active centres. The dielectric and conductivity behaviour were analysed systematically in wide temperature and frequency ranges to correlate such physical responses with the peculiarities of the samples. Large interfacial polarisations favoured by high specific surfaces of nanoparticles account for a drastic enhancement of the dielectric function in the quasi-static regime. Exhaustive analyses of the dielectric experiments were achieved and account for the main features of dielectric functions and their related relaxation mechanisms. The electrical conductivity is thermally activated with energies in the range 0.1–0.6 eV depending on the sample features. DC conductivity up to 10^–3 S/cm was obtained in well crystallized nanoparticles. Vanadium ions reduction was revealed by EPR spectroscopy with higher concentrations of the active centres (V⁴⁺) in more agglomerated and amorphous nanopowders. The EPR spectral parameters of V⁴⁺ were determined and correlated with the local environments of reduced vanadium ions and the characteristics of their electronic configurations. An insight is also made on the role of active electronic centres (V⁴⁺) on the conduction mechanism in nanostructured BiVO₄.     

BiVO4/TiO2 heterojunction with rich oxygen vacancies for enhanced electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction

The large-scale production of ammonia mainly depends on the Haber–Bosch process, which will lead to the problems of high energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission. Electrochemical nitrogen fixation is considered to be an environmental friendly and sustainable process, but its efficiency largely depends on the activity and stability of the catalyst. Therefore, it is imperative to develop highefficient electrocatalysts in the field of nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). In this paper, we developed a BiVO₄/TiO₂ nanotube (BiVO₄/TNT) heterojunction composite with rich oxygen vacancies as an electrocatalytic NRR catalyst. The heterojunction interface and oxygen vacancy of BiVO₄/TNT can be the active site of N₂ dynamic activation and proton transition. The synergistic effect of TiO₂ and BiVO₄ shortens the proton transport path and reduces the over potential of chemical reaction. BiVO₄/TNT has high ammonia yield of 8.54 μg·h⁻¹·cm⁻² and high Faraday efficiency of 7.70% in −0.8 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ solution.     

Density functional theory study of doping effects in monoclinic clinobisvanite BiVO4

The doping effects of several transition metal impurities for monoclinic BiVO₄ are studied by DFT calculations. The results indicated that transition metal doping could reduce the effective mass of holes on the top of valence band, except Zr doping. In particular, we found the “e” states of impurities have significant influence on the photophysical properties of BiV_1 − xM_xO₄ under visible-light irradiation.     

The domain structure of ferroelastic BiVO4 crystal studied by Gd EPR

The domain structure of ferroelastic BiVO₄ single crystal has been investigated using the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of the Gd³⁺ ions existing as an impurity in the crystal. Two sets of Gd³⁺ EPR signals were obtained in the crystallographic ca-plane. These two sets of signals originated not from the two kinds of substitutional sites but from the twin-domain structure in the host crystal. It is found that the BiVO₄ crystal investigated with Gd³⁺ EPR has the prominent (W-plane) domain wall. The domain structure is stable in contrast with a previous report by Baran et al. From the observed W-plane of the domain wall, it is suggested that a ferroelastic transition in BiVO₄ is 4/mmm F 2/m instead of 4/m F 2/m. The model of twinning mechanism improved in a previous report by Mn²⁺ EPR is confirmed by Gd³⁺ EPR.     

Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activities of rare earth-loaded BiVO4 catalysts

The BiVO₄-based photocatalysts loaded with rare earth (RE=Ho, Sm, Yb, Eu, Gd, Nd, Ce and La) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), nitrogen adsorption for the BET specific surface area and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by decolorization of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The results of XRD, SEM and XPS analysis deduced that the rare earth ions were present as RE₂O₃ in the samples. The DRS analysis showed the shift in the absorbption edge from the UV to the visible range: Ho³⁺-BiVO₄ < Sm³⁺-BiVO₄ < Yb³⁺-BiVO₄ < Eu³⁺-BiVO₄ < Gd³⁺-BiVO₄ < Nd³⁺-BiVO₄ < La³⁺-BiVO₄ < Ce³⁺-BiVO₄ < BiVO_4. Gd³⁺-BiVO₄ had the highest photocatalytic activity among all the RE³⁺-BiVO₄ catalysts. The optimal Gd content was 8 at% under visible light irradiation. This beneficial effect was attributed to the specific electron structure characteristics of gadolinium and the increasing in the separation efficiency of the electron-hole pairs. On the contrast, the other rare earth ions had the detrimental effect on the photocatalytic decolorization of MB.     

BiVO4空心微球的合成及其光催化降解亚甲基蓝的性能研究

以BiNO₃·5H₂O和NH₄VO₃为原料,柠檬酸为络合剂,成功合成了BiVO₄空心纳米球．采用TEM、XRD、UV-Vis等测试技术对样品的形貌、相结构以及光吸收性能等进行了表征．结果表明,所制备的BiVO₄空心微球在紫外区和可见区均有较强的光吸收,空心球平均粒径为160 nm,空腔直径为10～80 nm．以亚甲基蓝染料溶液的脱色降解实验为模型反应研究了样品的光催化性能．光催化实验结果表明,在可见光照射下,反应150 min后,样品对亚甲基蓝溶液的脱色率可达到95%以上．此外,考察了柠檬酸添加量对空心球形貌的影响,并提出了BiVO₄空心纳米球的可能形成机理．     

纤维状TiO2/BiVO4异质结的高可见光光催化性能

Novel TiO₂/BiVO₄ microfiber heterojunctions were constructed using cotton as biomorphic templates. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra and photocatalytic experiment. The morphology of the as-synthesized TiO₂/BiVO₄ composites was consisted of a large quantity of microfiber structures with diameter from 2.5 μm to 5 μm, and the surface of samples became more coarse and compact with the increase of weight ratio of TiO₂. The TiO₂/BiVO₄ samples with proper content (10.00wt%) showed the highest pho-tocatalytic degradation activity for methylene blue (MB) degradation among all the samples under visible light, and 88.58%MB could be degraded within 150 min. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity was mainly attributed to the formation of n-n heterojunction at the contact interface of TiO₂ and BiVO₄, which not only narrowed the band gap of BiVO₄ for extending the absorption range of visible light, but also promoted the transfer of charge carriers across interface. A possible photodegradation mechanism of MB in the presence of TiO₂/BiVO₄ microfibrous photocatalyst was proposed.     

Ion diffusion in the high-temperature phases Li2SO4, LiNaSO4, LiAgSO4 and Li4Zn(SO4)3

Diffusion in the four high-temperature sulphate phases Li₂SO₄, LiNaSO₄, LiAgSO₄ and Li₄Zn(SO₄)₃ was studied extensively some 20–30 years ago. We have now carried out a re-evaluation where we include information obtained from a number of studies of other properties. The data are adjusted slightly due to the use of another type of regression analysis. It is characteristic of the four phases that they are both plastic crystals and solid electrolytes (superionic conductors). The cause of the high conductivity is that the mobility of the cations is strongly enhanced by the rotational motion of the translationally static sulphate ions. This is observed not only for the abundant cations, but also for other cations present (mono- as well as polyvalent) and for monovalent anions. Furthermore, both bulk diffusion and transfer along high diffusivity paths are affected. In addition, one can distinguish between different contributions to the bulk diffusion. The ionic radius is a very important parameter, since it determines the solid solubility and the distribution of the ions between the sites that are available in the lattice. All this affects the relative importance of several competing diffusion mechanisms. This gives a qualitative explanation of an anomalous correlation which has been observed in FCC Li₂SO₄ for monovalent ions (cations as well as anions), namely that both the diffusion coefficients D, and the activation energies Q, decrease when the radius is increased. This holds for hard-core cations (Li, Na, K, Rb), polarizable cations (Ag, Tl) and anions (F, Cl, Br). On the other hand, the situation is normal for divalent cations for which an increase in D corresponds to a decrease in Q. This is the case for hard-core ions (Mg, Ca) as well as for polarizable ones (Zn, Cd, Pb). Migration of the large ions Cs⁺ and SO²⁻₄ appears to be specially sensitive to how the experiment is prepared. Diffusion in BCC LiNaSO₄ and LiAgSO₄ has been studied for the two main cations as well as for some dopant ions. A general conclusion is that studies of diffusion of several ions in the same structure can give information that cannot be obtained by other types of experiments.     

Cation ordering and crystal structures in AGa2X4 compounds (CoGa2S4, CdGa2S4, CdGa2Se4, HgGa2Se4, HgGa2Te4)

Single crystals of some AGa₂X₄ compounds (CoGa₂S₄, CdGa₂S₄, CdGa₂Se₄, HgGa₂Se₄, HgGa₂Te₄) were prepared by chemical vapour deposition and flux method.The X-ray structural investigations indicated blende or defect chalcopyrite structures.A simple relationship is suggested between the c/a ratio and the cationic sublattice ordering.     

Heat capacity and phase transitions in NH4LiSO4, Csx(NH4)1?xLiSO4, and RbLiSO4

The heat capacity of NH₄LiSO₄, RbLiSO₄ and Cs_x(NH₄)_1−x LiSO₄ crystals and its behavior over a broad temperature range including the phase transition regions were studied. The entropy changes corresponding to structural transformations in these crystals were found not to be characteristic of straightforward ordering of structural blocks. The results obtained are discussed in terms of phenomenological theory and model concepts. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 47, No. 4, 2005, pp. 696–704. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2005 by Flerov, Kartashev, Grankina.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and photoelectric properties of BiVO4 with different morphologies: An efficient visible-light photocatalyst

Different morphologies of monoclinic BiVO₄ with smaller size were hydrothermal synthesized by simply adjusting the amount of surfactant (polyvinyl pyrrolidone PVP K30) added. The detailed field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analysis revealed that the amount of PVP added could significantly affect the morphology and size of BiVO₄. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the decolorization of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution under visible-light irradiation (λ > 400 nm), and the as-prepared sample with well-assembled flower-like morphology showed a much higher photocatalytic activity due to larger specific surface area and higher separation efficiency of photo-induced carriers. The relationship between the behavior of photo-induced carriers and photocatalytic activity was studied using the surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) and corresponding phase spectra.     

Photoelectron spectra of As4S3, P4S3, P4Se3 and As4O6

The He(I) UV photoelectron spectra of As₄S₃, P₄S₃, P₄Se₃ and As₄O₆ are reported in this paper. The spectra of As₄S₃ and the isostructural molecules P₄S₃ and P₄Se₃ comprise seven broad but clearly defined peaks, whilst the spectrum of As₄O₆ consists of six peaks and two shoulders. By comparing the spectra with one another and with the photoelectron spectra of other arsenic and phosphorus compounds, the character and symmetry species of the highest-energy occupied molecular orbitals of the molecules have been assigned.     

Nonexponential proton relaxation in (NH4)2 HPO4

Nonexponential relaxation of protons in (NH₄)₂HPO₄ was found from 420 K to 110 K and was interpreted by the three-bath model below 167 K; inter-NH₄ group dipolar coupling above 167 K, and was attributed to non-equivalent NH₄ groups in a molecule.     

Thermoluminescence of rare earth activated CdSO4, SrSO4 and BaSO4

The thermoluminescence (TL) of rare earth (RE) activated sulfates of Cd, Sr and Ba was studied above room temperature. Many of the phosphors prepared exhibit an extremely bright TL following X-irradiation (most notably with Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy and Tm dopants), having an efficiency comparable to that of the highest sensitivity phosphors available for TL dosimetry, and exhibiting activator-induced glow peaks between 405 and 480°K. In a given lattice, the RE³⁺ ions produce a characteristic glow peak at the same temperature (independent of the particular RE ion), whereas Eu²⁺ produces a single glow peak at a different temperature. A decrease in glow peak temperature with increasing interatomic spacing was observed in the homologous SrSO₄-BaSO₄ system - this shift being most pronounced in the Eu²⁺ -doped materials. TL emission spectra were obtained for trivalent Sm, Tb, Dy and Tm and for divalent Eu in these sulfates (and also in CaSO₄).