A covalent organic skeleton based on pyridinyl benzene embedded into BiVO4 sites for visible-driven photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

Bismuth vanadate has great potential as an ecologically-friendly visible light catalyst for the degradation of Rhodamine B(RhB) in printing and dyeing wastewater. In this paper, a novel material (N-BiVO4) with a covalent organic skeleton of pyridyl benzene embedded in bismuth vanadate was prepared by supramolecular self-assembly method. The results description that N-BiVO4 has superior photocatalytic performance. Under visible light irradiation, the degradation rate of 0.6 g/L RhB reached 93.10% within 180 min. Thorough structural and photophysical characterization showed that compared with the control group, N-BiVO4 has larger specific surface area, better crystallinity, narrower band gap, higher separation efficiency between holes and free electron pairs, and stronger visible light absorption ability. These structural characteristics are also the main reasons for enhanced photocatalytic performance. This work also provides a new idea for the preparation and construction of efficient photocatalyst materials, which is expected to promote the further application of photocatalysis in wastewater treatment.