Photocatalytic activity enhancement of LaPO4via surface oxygen vacancies

Abstract

A monoclinic LaPO₄ photocatalyst with surface oxygen vacancies (v-LaPO₄) was prepared using hydrothermal and vacuum heat treatment methods. The photocatalytic activity reached a maximum 350 °C with vacuum heat treatment for 3 h and the photocatalytic activity and photocurrent of v-LaPO₄ were almost 1.6 and 2.3 times higher than that of pure LaPO₄, respectively. The improvement of the photocatalytic activity is attributed to the high separation efficiency of photogeneration electron–hole pairs. The main oxidative species are hydroxyl radicals. The photocatalytic activity of v-LaPO₄ for the degradation of MB does not decrease after four cycles, indicating that the v-LaPO₄ photocatalyst has good stability.