Enhancing Photooxidative Performance with Bi₂O₃ Nanoparticle-Modified BiVO₄ Heterostructural Flowers

Abstract

BiVO4 is widely used in photodegradation and photocatalytic oxygen evolution under visible-light irradiation. In this study, to reduce the recombination rate of photoexcited electrons and holes and increase the reaction activity site, BiVO4–Bi2O3 heterostructural flowers were fabricated by one-pot hydrothermal method by adjusting the concentration of hydrogen ions. Moreover, we used sucrose to control the morphology structure of BiVO4 and form the BiVO4–Bi2O3 heterostructural flowers. The BiVO4–Bi2O3 heterostructural flowers exhibited a higher photodegradation rate of organic pollutant than product synthesized without sucrose, BiVO4, and Bi2O3. The synergistic effect between BiVO4 and Bi2O3 and the recombination frequency of photoexcited electrons and holes as influence factors of improving the photooxidative capability were widely explored. The flower-like morphology provided active sites, and the nanosheets of the flowers decreased the transport distance of the photoexcited carriers.

Tuning the heterophase junction in Bi2O3 hybrid crystals with enhanced photocatalytic activity

“…A similar lattice oxygen binding feature in the O1s spectra has been presented in the BiVO 4 –Bi 2 O 3 heterostructure with different Bi–O bindings from the different constituent compounds. 39 In addition to the similar binding energy of adsorbed oxygen, B3 has a lattice oxygen component centered at approximately 529.1 eV. The slight decline of binding energy (∼0.8 eV) for the lattice oxygen was observed for the γ-Bi 2 O 3 crystals with an increased hydrothermal reaction time from 6 to 12 h. Gandhi et al proposed that γ-Bi 2 O 3 has a smaller binding energy of lattice oxygen than β-Bi 2 O 3 , and this finding supports the previous analysis results of the O1s spectra.…”

Remarkably Facile Preparation of Superhydrophobic Functionalized Bismuth Trioxide (Bi2O3) Coatings

“…Bismuth trioxide (Bi 2 O 3 ), possessing six polymorphic modification forms of α-Bi 2 O 3 , β-Bi 2 O 3 , etc., is regarded as a promising semiconductor, which has attracted growing interests because of its narrower band gap of 2.5-2.8 eV (compared with traditional photocatalyst-TiO 2 of >3.0 eV) and thermal stability, high dielectric permittivity, and refractive index [1][2][3][4], resulting in Bi 2 O 3 and its corresponding films' wide numerous technological application in fields of the fuel cell layer, catalysis, sensors, microelectronics, electro-optics, and so on [5][6][7][8][9][10].…”