A superior photocatalytic performance of a novel Bi₂SiO₅flower-like microsphere via a phase junction

Abstract

A phase junction over a Bi(2)SiO(5) photocatalyst with the orthorhombic Bi(2)SiO(5) and the tetragonal Bi(2)SiO(5) structure was successfully synthesized via an ion exchange method using BiOBr solid microspheres as the sacrificial template. In the meantime, the as-prepared Bi(2)SiO(5) phase junction possesses a novel morphology of a flower-like microsphere with nanoparticles evenly embedded in its nano-petals. It was found that the Bi(2)SiO(5) phase junction not only showed a highly enhanced photocatalytic activity and excellent durability under UV or simulated solar irradiation, but also showed a remarkable visible-light activity for photo-degradation of phenol. Experimental results reveal that the tetragonal Bi(2)SiO(5) phase in this phase junction possesses a narrower band gap, thus leading to its extended light absorption. The efficient charge separation via a phase junction would make a great contribution to its highly enhanced photocatalytic activity under UV or simulated solar irradiation. The high efficiency in the degradation of organic pollutants makes the as-prepared photocatalyst a promising candidate for photocatalytic environmental purification.

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

“…Zhu et al have assigned this band to the stretching vibration mode of isolated (SiO 5 ) 6À groups forming a distorted tetrahedron. 31,34 Thus, the intensification of this band in Eu-BSO compared to BSO strongly validates our claim that the incorporation of Eu 3+ has induced asymmetry in the crystal structure leading to the faster generation and stabilization of the monoclinic BSO phase.…”

Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance under Visible and Near-Infrared Irradiation of Cu1.8Se/Cu3Se2 Composite via a Phase Junction

“…The lattice resolved HRTEM (high resolution transmission electron microscopy) image of Cu 1.8 Se/Cu 3 Se 2 composite indicates the longitudinal fringe spacing of 0.331 nm and the horizontal fringe spacing of 0.354 nm (as seen in Figure 2d), which is consistent with the spacing of (111) and (101) planes of cubic Cu 1.8 Se and tetragonal Cu 3 Se 2 , respectively. The high-quality image of the interface between Cu 1.8 Se and Cu 3 Se 2 can be observed clearly, which could be considered as a phase junction structure [35]. …”

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

“…It is recognized that Bi2SiO5 is alternately stacked in a two-dimensional structure by (Bi2O2) 2+ and (SiO3) 2-layer [19,20]. It has been applied to the field of photocatalysis and has lots of advantages, such as non-toxicity, chemical stability and excellent photocatalytic activity [21][22][23]. However, Bi2SiO5 can only be applied in the ultraviolet region because of its wide bandgap (~3.5 eV) [24,25].…”