Abstract
BiPO4/Bi2S3 photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by a simple two-step hydrothermal process, which involved the initial formation of BiPO4 rod and then the attachment of Bi2S3 through ion exchange. The as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS). It was found that BiPO4 was regular rods with smooth surfaces. However, BiPO4/Bi2S3 heterojunction had a rough surface, which could be attributed to the attachment of Bi2S3 on the surface of BiPO4 rods. The BiPO4/Bi2S3 composite exhibited better photocatalytic performance than that of pure BiPO4 and Bi2S3 for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be ascribed to synergistic effect of BiPO4/Bi2S3 heterojunction, in which the attached Bi2S3 nanoparticles could improve visible-light absorption and the BiPO4/Bi2S3 heterojunction suppressed the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Our work suggested that BiPO4/Bi2S3 heterojunction could be a potential photocatalyst under visible light.
Highlights
Semiconductor photocatalysts have attracted a lot of interests due to their widely applications for the degradation of organic contaminants [1,2,3,4] and generation of hydrogen from water [5]
We reported the preparation of a novel BiPO4/Bi2S3 heterostructure and their photocatalytic properties were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light
Bi2S3 nanoparticles can be in situ formed on the surface of BiPO4 rods through ion exchange
Summary
Semiconductor photocatalysts have attracted a lot of interests due to their widely applications for the degradation of organic contaminants [1,2,3,4] and generation of hydrogen from water [5]. A highly efficient photocatalyst must have a wide photoabsorption range, as well as the low recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. BiPO4 has recently been extensively studied [10,11,12]. It has been reported that the photocatalytic activity of BiPO4 is strongly dependent on its crystal structure [13] and the monoclinic phase BiPO4 showed a better photocatalytic performance than that of P25 for the photodegradation of organic contaminants under UV irradiation [14]. BiPO4 had a wide band gap of about 3.8 eV and can only be excited
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