Stabilized β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles from (BiO)4CO3(OH)2 precursor and their photocatalytic properties under blue light

Abstract

Stabilized tetragonal Bi2O3 nanoparticles (β-Bi2O3) were obtained by annealing treatments of amorphous Bi-based precursors, obtained by chemical precipitations, at temperatures between 350 and 450 °C. The formation of the stabilized β-Bi2O3 phase was possible by using (BiO)4CO3(OH)2 while other precursors such as amorphous bismuth carbonate ((BiO)2CO3) and amorphous basic bismuth nitrate (Bi6O6(OH)2(NO3)4·2H2O) led to the formation of the thermodynamically stable monoclinic α-Bi2O3 and Bi5O7NO3 phases. The Bi-based precursors were prepared by the chemical precipitation method at room temperature in ethylenediamine-solvent varying the HNO3/Bi3+ molar ratio (10, 26 and 56). The physicochemical properties of the three as-prepared amorphous precursors and the formed-after-calcination β-Bi2O3, α-Bi2O3 and Bi5O7NO3 phases were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FTIR analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and surface area by BET method. The photocatalytic activity of all annealed solids containing the β-Bi2O3 phase was tested in the photodegradation of the indigo carmine (IC) dye under specific blue light. A schematic diagram of the Bi2O3 phases obtained as a function of the annealing conditions and initial amorphous precursor is proposed and explained in terms of the amount of CO32-, NO3- and amine (ENH22+ ⇔ ENH+) ions present in each bismuth precursor.