A high-performance Bi2O3/Bi2SiO5 p-n heterojunction photocatalyst induced by phase transition of Bi2O3

Abstract

In this work, Bi2O3/Bi2SiO5 p-n heterojunction photocatalyst was successfully fabricated via a facile one-step synthesis using Bi(NO3)3 and nano-SiO2 as precursors.With the increasing amount of SiO2, α-Bi2O3 gradually transferred into β-Bi2O3, and Bi2O3/Bi2SiO5 p-n heterojunction was obtained at the same time. The as-prepared samples were systematically characterized by XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The Bi2O3/Bi2SiO5 heterojunction photocatalysts exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than α-Bi2O3 on the degradation of organic pollutants under simulated sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the larger specific surface area, the larger contact angle, the formation of β-Bi2O3 and construction of p-n heterojunction. More importantly, the phase transition mechanism of Bi2O3 in Bi2O3/Bi2SiO5 heterojunction photocatalyst was proposed, which is significant for the theoretical study and application of photocatalytic materials.

BiOCl/BiOBr Heterojunction with Rich Oxygen Vacancies Induced by Ultraviolet and Its Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

“…As shown in Figure S3, the average contact angle of all the as‐prepared samples are less than 90°, indicating that all the as‐prepared samples are hydrophilic . Moreover, BOCBuv has the smallest contact angle (26.314°), suggesting the keen interaction between water and BOCBuv surface, which is benefited for adsorption of pollutants and desorption of intermediates …”

Bi2O3@Carbon Nanocomposites for Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Chlorophenols

“…As a result, the O layer became parallel to the x-y plane and high-temperature stable phase β-Bi2O3 is formed. 40 Although β-Bi2O3 has narrower bandgap and better photocatalytic activity than α-Bi2O3, the sample Bi/C-3 and Bi/C-4 contain too much inactive and incompletely polymerized dicyandiamide which severely limited the photocatalytic activity. Under solar light irradiation, the electrons of Bi can be injected into the CB of Bi2O3.…”

“…The valence band of α-Bi2O3 is about 3.14 eV (vs. NHE) and the comparatively positive valence implies that α-Bi2O3 is suitable to be engaged in photooxidation. 40 However, the photogenerated electrons can rapidly reunite with holes, which severely limits the application of α-Bi2O3.…”

Defect induced “super mop” like behaviour of Eu3+-doped hierarchical Bi2SiO5nanoparticles for improved catalytic and adsorptive behaviour

“…The available reports show that high temperatures, long reaction times (B48 hours), and tedious post-synthesis protocols have been employed. [28][29][30][31][32][33] This has motivated us to develop a low-cost strategy to produce monoclinic or orthorhombic BSO with superior structural properties at lower reaction temperatures and time. Moreover, the as-synthesized BSO must be a ''super-mop'', i.e.…”