TY - JOUR IS - 6 N2 - Bismuth vanadate, BiVO4, is a visible-light response semiconductor for photocatalysis applications such as organic pollutants degradation, oxygen production and carbon dioxide reduction. However, as a single-phase photocatalyst, BiVO4 efficiency is limited by the unpreferable recombination of the photoexcited electron (eâ??) and hole (h+). Thus, strategies have been designed to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency by promoting the separation of electrons and holes. This can be done by controling the morphology and crystallographic facets of BiVO4, and by building pâ??n junction photocatalytic systems with a combination of n-type semiconductors (BiVO4) and p-type semiconductors or a monoclinicâ??tetragonal heterostructure of BiVO4. In particular, a direct pâ??n junction photocatalytic system with tetragonal zircon-structured BiVO4 (t-z) and monoclinic scheelite-structured BiVO4 (m-s) combination has recently attracted attention. Here we review the synthesis of the monoclinicâ??tetragonal heterostructured BiVO4 photocatalyst (mâ??t BiVO4) by calcination, hydrothermal, microwave-assisted hydrothermal and solvothermal methods. mâ??t BiVO4 formation and the transmission phase between t-z and m-s are controlled by the calcining temperature, precursor pH, metal doping content, type of solvent, implementation of precursors and reaction conditions. We discuss mâ??t BiVO4 crystal structure, optical characteristics and photocatalytic principles. Successful formation of BiVO4 crystals with a m-s/t-z heterostructure is based on data from X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and ultravioletâ??visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UVâ??Vis DRS). In the mâ??t BiVO4 heterostructure, a direct pâ??n junction photocatalytic system is established. When this system is exposed to visible light, the electrons in the conduction band of m-s BiVO4, a n-type semiconductor, migrate easily to the conduction band of t-z BiVO4, while the holes on valence band of t-z BiVO4, a p-type semiconductor, move to the valence band of m-s BiVO4 through an internal electric field. As a result, the eâ??/h+ charge carriers are spatially separated. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. ID - scholars12591 Y1 - 2020/// A1 - Nguyen, T.D. A1 - Nguyen, V.-H. A1 - Nanda, S. A1 - Vo, D.-V.N. A1 - Nguyen, V.H. A1 - Van Tran, T. A1 - Nong, L.X. A1 - Nguyen, T.T. A1 - Bach, L.-G. A1 - Abdullah, B. A1 - Hong, S.-S. A1 - Van Nguyen, T. JF - Environmental Chemistry Letters UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85087049337&doi=10.1007%2fs10311-020-01039-0&partnerID=40&md5=27e0834648ab5824fa2f3fd8c4e4fdea VL - 18 AV - none N1 - cited By 82 TI - BiVO4 photocatalysis design and applications to oxygen production and degradation of organic compounds: a review SP - 1779 PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH SN - 16103653 EP - 1801 ER -