Titanium alkoxide induced BiOBr–Bi2WO6 mesoporous nanosheet composites with much enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Here we report a facile hydrothermal route for the preparation of BiOBr-Bi 2 WO 6 mesoporous nanosheet composites (MNCs) in the presence of titanium isopropoxide, Ti(O i Pr) 4 . High resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed for structural and composition analyses of the MNCs. The photogenerated charge transfer and photocatalytic activity of BiOBr-Bi 2 WO 6 MNCs were investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. We propose mechanisms to illustrate how titanium alkoxide induces the formation of mesoporous nanosheet heterostructures and the enhanced photodecomposition efficiency of the dye under low light intensity illumination. Overall, our results suggest that titanium alkoxide is not only strongly involved in the growth of BiOBr (001) facets, but also plays a critical role in the pore evolution of the product. Kelvin probe force microscopy analysis allows us to conclude that the resulting nanocomposites demonstrate high photogenerated charge mobility and a long lifetime. Dye molecules can be rapidly and thoroughly decomposed with the photocatalyst under very low light intensity illumination. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to well matched band edge positions of BiOBr and Bi 2 WO 6 and the large specific surface area of the MNCs in view of the incorporation of mesopores and the highly exposed BiOBr (001) facet due to the use of Ti(O i Pr) 4 during the synthesis. The results presented here are expected to make a contribution toward the development of delicate nanocomposites for photocatalytic water purification and solar energy utilization.

Facile fabrication of In2O3/Bi2WO6 heterostructured microbelts with enhanced photocatalytic activity

“…The Bi 2 WO 6 -based heterostructures with different morphologies were usually synthesized by hydrothermal method, for example, Fe 2 O 3 /Bi 2 WO 6 microspheres [7], Bi 2 O 3 /Bi 2 WO 6 rods [22], TiO 2 /Bi 2 WO 6 hollow tubes [23], BiOCl/Bi 2 WO 6 nanoflowers [24], and BiOBr/Bi 2 WO 6 microspheres [25], etc. But until now, few reports concerned with the photocatalytic activity of In 2 O 3 /Bi 2 WO 6 heterostructured microbelts synthesized by the electrospinning process.…”

Enhanced photocatalytic performance of g-C3N4 nanosheets–BiOBr hybrids

“…The first one is to synthesize pure BiOBr with various architectures, such as lamellas, hierarchical microspheres, microflowers, mesoporous microspheres, and self-assembled 3-D architectures [10][11][12][13][14]. Another alternative is relevant to the fabrication of BiOBr hybrids with other semiconductors of suitable energy-band structures and the obtained hybrids normally own unique optical and catalytic properties, thanking to the formation of a positive synergistic effect between these ingredients [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Nano Ag@AgBr surface-sensitized Bi2WO6 photocatalyst: oil-in-water synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic degradation

“…Furthermore, the visible-light have shown that the preparation of composites of Bi 2 WO 6 with other semiconductors greatly improves the photocatalytic activity observed by promoting the separation of the photo-produced electron and hole such as for reported systems of Bi 2 WO 6 /BiOBr [15], Bi 2 WO 6 /TiO 2 [16] and Bi 2 O 3 /Bi 2 WO 6 [17].…”