Self-Assembled 3-D Architectures of BiOBr as a Visible Light-Driven Photocatalyst

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrated the EG-assisted solvothermal synthesis of 3-D microspherical BiOBr architectures assembled by nanosheets. The morphology and compositional characteristics of the 3-D architectures were investigated by various microscopy techniques. The possible formation mechanism for the architectures was discussed. The band gap of the obtained BiOBr materials was estimated to be 2.54 eV by UV-vis. The specific surface area and porosity of the BiOBr 3-D architectures also were investigated by using nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. Because of the narrow bandgap and the novel 3-D micro-/nanostructure, the BiOBr architectures show a more excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation than the BiOBr bulk plates. Several possible reasons for the higher photocatalytic activity have been taken into consideration. In addition, the photocatalyst is stable during the reaction and can be used repeatedly.

Review of one-dimensional and two-dimensional nanostructured materials for hydrogen generation

“…NiO hollow microspheres showed greater catalytic activity than rods 6 A special class of 2D NSs self-assembled into a 3D architecture is another important research area in photocatalysis. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Layered titanates have been introduced for H 2 production as a result of their proton-exchange capability in the absence of co-catalysts. 223 …”

Adsorption and degradation performance of Rhodamine B over BiOBr under monochromatic 532nm pulsed laser exposure

“…Recently, as new kinds of visible-light-responsive photocatalysts, BiOBr has received much interest in the potential photocatalytic removal of contaminants from aqueous or gas phase [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Exceptional visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity over BiOBr–ZnFe2O4 heterojunctions

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] BiOBr is a lamellar-structured p-type semiconductor with intrinsic indirect band gap which endows it with excellent mobility and a prolonged transfer path for photogenerated electrons. 7 However, the band gap energy (E g ) of BiOBr is around 2.9 eV, indicating that it cannot absorb a significant part of visible-light above 430 nm.…”