Rational engineering a one-dimensional hierarchical Bi2O2CO3 displaying high-performance photocatalytic reduction of Cr(Ⅵ) and degradation of bisphenol A under solar light

Abstract

High-performance photocatalysts are highly needed for removing pollutants from water under solar light. A one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical Bi2O2CO3 is developed through a self-assembly route by using ordered nanosheets. During reaction process, sodium citrate decomposes and releases CO32– which in-situ reacts with Bi2O3 to form Bi2O2CO3 nanosheets exposed with (001) crystal facets. Each non-decomposed citrate ion (Cit3-) with tree carboxylate groups adsorb on some (001) crystal facets and compel the Bi2O2CO3 nanosheets parallelly grow up, finally the 1D hierarchical Bi2O2CO3 structure self-assembled by ordered nanosheets is obtained. The presented Bi2O2CO3 exhibits an outstanding photocatalytic activity including 100 mg/L of Cr(VI) solution can be completely reduced in 10 min under solar light. Moreover, bisphenol A is also degraded efficiently. It is ascribed to special hierarchical structure of Bi2O2CO3 which can not only increases the surface area, but also enhances light utilization, improving the photocatalytic performance.