A recent developments in Ag₃VO₄ based photocatalysts towards environmental remediation: Properties, synthesis, strategies and applications

In the last decades, the emission of heavy metals and organic pollutants into water bodies is increasing tremendously. The semiconductor-based photocatalysis is an effective technique to resolve major environmental issues. Recently, silver vanadate (Ag3VO4) based photocatalysts are gaining more attention in the research field due to its narrow bandgap (similar to 2.20 eV) and extended visible light absorption via Ag NPs exhibiting SPR effect. The Ag3VO4 exhibits good photocatalytic properties hence it is considered as an efficient photocatalyst for environmental remediations. The current review demonstrated the structural and optoelectronic properties of Ag3VO4 through a theoretical perspective. The first principal computation was exploited to confirm the band's optoelectronic properties and structural properties. In this review, the various synthesis methods to fabricate Ag3VO4 photocatalyst have been illustrated briefly. Also, the numerous modification ways are adapted to boost up the photocatalytic activity of Ag3VO4 are conventional heterojunction, p-n heterojunction, Z-scheme, and S-scheme. These modification strategies minimize the rate of EHP recombination and boost the charge transference and separation efficacy. Furthermore, photocatalytic applications like dye degradation, antibiotic degradation, heavy metal ions reduction, and phenol degradation over Ag3VO4 photocatalyst have been highlighted along with their respective photodegradation mechanism. Conclusively, the review summarized challenges and future emerging perspectives of Ag3VO4 photocatalyst with a conclusion for water treatment.