Sonochemical Synthesis of Copper-doped BiVO(4)/g-C(3)N(4) Nanocomposite Materials for Photocatalytic Degradation of Bisphenol A under Simulated Sunlight Irradiation

Copper-doped bismuth vanadate/graphitic carbon nitride (BiVO(4)/g-C(3)N(4)) nanocomposite materials were successfully fabricated using a sonochemical approach. Cu-doped BiVO(4)/g-C(3)N(4) nanocomposite photocatalysts could improve electron/hole (e(−)/h(+)) pair separation, stability, and light-harvesting efficiency compared to pristine BiVO(4) or g-C(3)N(4), resulting in the enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The optimal parameters, such as pH value at 10, photocatalyst dosage of 0.4 g L(−1), and 10 mol% Cu-doped BiVO(4)/g-C(3)N(4) photocatalyst, were determined to degrade initial concentration of 20 ppm Bisphenol A, which could be completely removed after 90 min. Furthermore, the excessive doping of copper (> 10 mol%) could not synthesize the pure monoclinic scheelite phase, which substantially resulted in the reduction of the photocatalytic activity.