Abstract
Construction of heterojunction and decoration of cocatalyst are two vital strategies to accelerate migration of charge carriers. However, the fabrication routs of multi-composites are usually complex and expensive. In this work, Bi2O2CO3/Bi2O3/Bi ternary composite was fabricated via a facile one-step redox reaction. Ethylene glycol was selected as the solvent during the whole reaction process. Moreover, ethylene glycol as an excellent reductant can reduce Bi3+ into metallic Bi0 and itself is oxidized to CO32−, which would react with Bi2O3 to generate Bi2O2CO3 without additional carbon source. Component proportions in ternary composites were optimized by the control of the ratios of raw materials. Under simulate solar light, Bi-based ternary composites exhibited enhanced photodegradation efficiencies for multifarious pollutants in comparison with single and binary samples. The enhanced photocatalytic activities were ascribed to accelerated migration rate of charge carriers owing to the construction of heterojunction and decoration of cocatalyst.
Highlights
Water contamination has become a highly concerned issue owing to its close relationship with drinking water quality and human health [1,2,3,4]
Bi2O2CO3/Bi2O3/Bi ternary composite was fabricated via a facile one-step redox reaction
Ethylene glycol (EG) is selected as solvent for the whole reaction process, which as an excellent reducing agent can reduce Bi3+ into metallic Bi0 and itself is oxidized to CO32−, reacting with Bi2O3 to generate Bi2O2CO3 without any additional carbon source
Summary
Water contamination has become a highly concerned issue owing to its close relationship with drinking water quality and human health [1,2,3,4]. Efficient photogenerated charge carriers separation and migration is one of the main factors to improve photocatalytic activity [10,11,12,13,14]. Construction of heterojunction is considered as one of the effective strategies to inhibit charge recombination and enhance photocatalytic efficiency because of staggered band alignments between two semiconductor components [15,16,17,18]. Photogenerated electrons (holes) on the higher conduction (lower valence) band of semiconductor would migrate to another one with a lower conduction (higher valence) band, which could realize spatial separation of charge carriers and suppress their recombination [19]. Noble metals could act as a reservoir of electrons, preventing the recombination of charge carriers and strengthening the quantum efficiency of photocatalytic activity [23, 24]. Compared with single or binary catalysts, Bi2O2CO3/Bi2O3/Bi composites exhibit increased photodegradation activities toward multifarious organic pollutants under solar light irradiation
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