PRECURSORS-DECOMPOSITED SYNTHESIS AND VISIBLE-LIGHT-RESPONSE PHOTOCATALYSTIC PROPERTIES OF UNIFORM POROUS Bi₂O₃ NANOSPHERES

Abstract

The Bi 2 O 3 sphere-like precursors were¯rst synthesized through a simple hydrothermal reaction in the mixture of sodium cholate (SC) and hydrogen peroxide. Thermal decomposition of these precursors would result in the formation of the uniform porous Bi 2 O 3 nanospheres with diameters of ca. 80 nm in air at 500 C. The amount of added H 2 O 2 and the reaction time were found to play important roles in the formation of Bi 2 O 3 sphere-like precursors. The as-prepared porous Bi 2 O 3 nanospheres exhibited a very excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B (RB) and methyl blue (MB) dyes under visible-light irradiation, which could be attributed to their narrow band gap and high surface area.

Biotemplate preparation of Bi 2 O 3 nanosheet for enhanced photodegradation of methylene blue

“…As we know, the morphology, size, and specific surface area are crucial to photocatalytic activity [12][13][14]. Up to now, many methods such as microwave irradiation [15], biomimetic method [16], chemical precipitation [17], solvent thermal method [18], femtosecond pulsed laser ablation in liquids [19,20], and surfactant-assistant method [21,22] have been employed to prepare α-Bi 2 O 3 with various morphologies, for instance, laminated structure [23], sphere [24], microrod [21] oblique prism-like structure [25], and flower-shaped superstructure [12]. Although remarkable achievements have been made in these methods, however, there are also several shortcomings such as special facilities requirement [20], high-energy consumption, complicated process [18], polluting [22] etc.…”