Abstract

Bismuth oxide with its unique narrow bandgap has gained significant attention in the field of photocatalysis. A new and efficient method to synthesise bismuth oxide with tuneable properties is proposed herein. A surfactant assisted modified sol–gel method is used to synthesise bismuth oxide with excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B dye. Three different surfactants, namely polyethylene glycol-400, sodium lauryl sulfate, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) have been used. The fabricated bismuth oxide nanoparticles were characterised by X-ray diffraction, IR, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy analysis. Evolution of both the α and β crystalline phases of bismuth oxide was observed. The bandgap of the synthesised bismuth oxides ranges from 2.03 to 2.37eV. The CTAB assisted synthesised bismuth oxide with a bandgap of 2.19eV showed the highest photocatalytic activity of 93.6% under visible light for the degradation of Rhodamine B. This bismuth oxide based catalyst opens a new avenue for efficient photocatalysis for environmental remediation.

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