Facile Synthesis of CeO2 Nanosheets Decorated upon BiOI Microplate: A Surface Oxygen Vacancy Promoted Z-Scheme-Based 2D-2D Nanocomposite Photocatalyst with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Construction of a visible light driven Z-scheme-based photocatalytic system is a hot topic of research because of the potential to alleviate both energy and environmental issues. In the present study a series of surface vacancy mediated BiOI–CeO2 nanocomposites were prepared and their crystallographic, morphological, optical, and electrochemical behavior were characterized through XRD, TEM, FESEM, UV–vis DRS, PL, ESI, and Mott–Schottky techniques. From the XPS analysis, it could be said that a high amount of oxygen defects and metallic bismuth were present on the composite than neat CeO2 which was the major cause of enhancement in the photocatalytic activity. Further the photocatalytic efficiency of the as prepared samples was tested toward RhB decolorization/phenol oxidation as well as for O2 gas evolution. It was observed that 40 wt % BiOI–CeO2 nanocomposite exhibited highest photocatalytic activity among neat and other composites, i.e., 89% decolorization of 100 ppm RhB and produces 323 μmol/2h of O2 u...