Synthesis, characterization, and design of a photocatalyst based on BiOBr nanoplates and tin porphyrin with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

The bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) photocatalyst was first synthesized via a simple co-precipitation method. To improve the visible light photocatalytic activity of the prepared photocatalyst, it was then functionalized with the tin porphyrin (SnTCPP) photosensitizer to produce the modified photocatalyst BiOBr/SnTCPP. The modified photocatalyst produced was characterized by the X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, UV–visible diffusive reflectance spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectrometry analytical techniques. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of BiOBr/SnTCPP was evaluated for degradation of methyl orange (MO), Rhodamine B (RhB), and 2, 4-dichlorophenol (DCP). The photocatalytic results obtained showed that BiOBr/SnTCPP was able to destroy 78%, 90%, and 80% of MO, RhB, and DCP, respectively, under the visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic performance of BiOBr/SnTCPP was found to be much higher than that of BiOBr. In addition, investigating the photocatalytic mechanism by using some scavengers for photodegradation of the above-mentioned pollutants showed that the OH and O2·− radicals were the main species involved in the photocatalytic process.