Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ag/Bi₂O₂CO₃ Nanoflakes Photocatalysts with Bismuth Nitrate and Silver Oxalate as Precursors for Organic Pollutants Degradation

Abstract

Bi2O2CO3 is a UV-light-driven photocatalyst. Bi2O2CO3 nanoflakes modified with plasmonic Ag nanoparticles (Ag/Bi2O2CO3) were obtained by a hydrothermal method. In the synthetic process, Ag2C2O4 worked as the Ag source and C source for the simultaneous formation of Ag particles and CO[Formula: see text]. The optimum synthesis condition was found at [Formula: see text]C for 16[Formula: see text]h under alkaline condition. The binary heterostructure was then used for degrading 2, 4-Dichlorophenol (2, 4-DCP) and Rhodamine B in visible light, with an efficiency of nearly 80% for 2, 4-DCP and 100% for Rhodamine B after 4[Formula: see text]h and 2[Formula: see text]h reaction, respectively. The binary heterostructure exhibited improved photocatalytic activity compared to that of individual Ag and Bi2O2CO3 due to Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect of Ag. Meanwhile, after five recycling experiments, Ag/Bi2O2CO3 showed higher photocatalytic activity and lower performance degradation in comparison with the one prepared by photo-reduction of Ag[Formula: see text] on Bi2O2CO3 nanoflakes. This indicated the advantage of one-pot synthetic method. This work is expected to provide an efficient photocatalyst for organic pollutants degradation.