Structural and optical characterization of ball-milled copper-doped bismuth vanadium oxide (BiVO4)

Mechano-chemical synthesis of Cu-doped BiVO₄ monoclinic nanopowders and investigation of structural, optical and electronic properties.

Electronic, optical and vibrational features of BiVO4 nanostructures investigated by first-principles calculations

Numerical models based on DFT and semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations were developed for bulk and nano-sized BiVO₄ semiconducting oxide. Importance of surface reconstruction for electronic and vibrational properties was shown.

Investigations of the charge transfer phenomenon at the hybrid dye/BiVO4 interface under visible radiation

Photocatalytic hybrid systems were realized by associating bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) nanostructured thin films with anchored organic and metal-organic complex molecules. The chosen dyes are based on indoline and azo-based moieties. Optical and photoinduced charge transfer features were investigated experimentally and analysed theoretically through the electron band alignment on the organic/inorganic interface. Quantum calculations were carried out for the studied hybrid systems by using DFT and semi-empirical approaches. The calculations were performed by implementing a cluster model applied for the nanostructures and hybrid systems. The electronic density peculiarities point out efficient charge transfer for D149 based hybrids compared to azo-based systems. The electron distribution in hybrid systems inferred from the computational analysis and their experimental probing using Kelvin Force Microscopy (KFM) maps the way to understanding the photoinduced charge transfer occurring at the interfaces between organic dyes and an inorganic photocatalyst. The presented approach helps to predict suitable photoactive hybrid materials leading to efficient photocatalytic devices.

Structural and morphological data of RF-Sputtered BiVO4 thin films

Structural and morphological modulation of rf-sputtered BiVO₄ thin films deposited using mechanochemical synthesis prepared BiVO₄ nano-powders as sintered target are included in this data article. The crystalline nature of as-prepared films, namely amorphous and crystalline was acquired with time and temperature dependent in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD), at a time interval of 1 h. Typical Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of annealed thin film of monoclinic BiVO₄ structure is given. Furthermore, correlation between morphologies of various substrate temperature fabricated BiVO₄ thin films are presented.