Surfactant-free synthesis of hyperbranched monoclinic bismuth vanadate and its applications in photocatalysis, gas sensing, and lithium-ion batteries.

Hyperbranched monoclinic BiVO(4) (h-BiVO(4)) has been synthesized on a large scale and with good uniformity by a surfactant-free hydrothermal route. h-BiVO(4) consists of four trunks with branches distributed on opposite sides. From observation of the intermediates at an early stage of the reaction process, it can be seen that during formation h-BiVO(4) has different growth rates along the a, b, and c axes. Based on crystal structure analysis and experimental results, h-BiVO(4) shows preferential growth along the [100] direction, and subsequently, along the [010] and [001] directions. As-synthesized h-BiVO(4) exhibits excellent photocatalytic ability in the photodegradation reaction of an aqueous solution of RB under visible light. Electrochemical measurements predict that h-BiVO(4) possesses high sensitivity to formaldehyde and ethanol gases, favorable discharge capacity, and capacity retention, which indicate potential applications in the fields of sensing devices and lithium-ion batteries.