Roni Adi Wijaya, Gunawan Gunawan, Ahmad Suseno, Nor Basid Adiwibawa Prasetya, Fitria 'Izzatun Nisa, Wilman Septina, Takashi Harada
AbstractThe increasing release of persistent organic dyes, such as methylene blue (MB), from industrial effluents poses a serious environmental concern due to their high toxicity and resistance to conventional treatment methods. This study investigates the optimization of dip-coated BiVO₄ thin films and their modification with CdS to construct a BiVO4/CdS Z-scheme heterojunction for enhanced visible-light-driven photodegradation of MB. BiVO4 films were synthesized on FTO substrates via dip-coating with varied deposition durations and subsequently coated with CdS nanoparticles. Structural and morphological analyses confirmed the formation of crystalline monoclinic BiVO4 with uniform CdS coverage and strong interfacial coupling. The optimized BiVO4(20 min)/CdS thin film achieved a 94.7% MB degradation within 120 min under visible-light illumination, following pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0249 min−1. Photoelectrochemical characterization revealed a significant increase in photocurrent from 0.2 mA·cm−2 for bare BiVO4 to 1.3 mA·cm−2 for BiVO4/CdS, confirming improved charge separation and interfacial charge-transfer efficiency. The Z-scheme mechanism enables photogenerated electrons in the CdS conduction band to recombine with holes in the BiVO4 valence band, thereby preserving strong redox potentials for the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These ROS drive oxidative pathways, including N-demethylation, hydroxylation, and aromatic ring cleavage, leading to complete MB mineralization. The BiVO4/CdS thin film also exhibits excellent stability and reusability over four successive cycles with minimal efficiency loss. This work demonstrates a facile strategy for designing high-performance photoanodes for solar-driven wastewater treatment and sustainable environmental remediation. © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. Rawamangun Muka, Jakarta, 13220, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Diponegoro University, Semarang, 50271, Indonesia; Research Centre for Electronics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jl. Cisitu, Bandung, 40135, Indonesia; Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry, Osaka University, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan
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