Photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6/Bi2S3 heterojunctions: the facilitation of exposed facets of Bi2WO6 substrate

Abstract

Bi2S3/Bi2WO6 hybrid architectures with exposed (020) Bi2WO6 facets have been synthesized via a controlled anion exchange approach. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that a small amount of Bi2S3 was formed on the surface of Bi2WO6 during the anion exchange process, thus leading to the transformation from the Bi2WO6 to Bi2S3/Bi2WO6. A rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous solution was chosen as model organic pollutants to evaluate the photocatalytic activities of the Bi2S3/Bi2WO6 catalysts. Under visible light irradiation, the Bi2S3/Bi2WO6-TAA displayed the excellent visible light photoactivities compared with pure Bi2S3, Bi2WO6 and other composite photocatalysts. The efficient photocatalytic activity of the Bi2S3/Bi2WO6-TAA composite microspheres was ascribed to the constructed heterojunctions and the inner electric field caused by the exposed (020) Bi2WO6 facets. Active species trapping experiments revealed that h+ and O2− are the main active species in the photocatalytic process. Furthermore, the as-obtained photocatalysts showed good photocatalytic activity after four recycles. The results presented in this study provide a new concept for the rational design and development of highly efficient photocatalysts.