Enhanced photocatalytic reduction reaction over Bi??¡VTiO? nanoparticles in presence of formic acid as a hole scavenger

Abstract

A series of Bi??-doped TiO?(Bi??¡VTiO?) catalysts with a doping concentration up to 2 wt% were prepared by a sol¡Vgel method. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by different means to determine their chemical composition, surface structure and light absorption properties. The photocatalytic activity of different Bi??¡VTiO?catalysts was evaluated in the photocatalytic reduction of nitrate in aqueous solution under UV illumination. In the experiments, formic acid was used as a hole scavenger to enhance the photocatalytic reduction reaction. The experiments demonstrated that nitrate was effectively degrade