Vacancy‐Rich Monolayer BiO2−x as a Highly Efficient UV, Visible, and Near‐Infrared Responsive Photocatalyst

Abstract

AbstractVacancy‐rich layered materials with good electron‐transfer property are of great interest. Herein, a full‐spectrum responsive vacancy‐rich monolayer BiO2−x has been synthesized. The increased density of states at the conduction band (CB) minimum in the monolayer BiO2−x is responsible for the enhanced photon response and photo‐absorption, which were confirmed by UV/Vis‐NIR diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and photocurrent measurements. Compared to bulk BiO2−x, monolayer BiO2−x has exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance for rhodamine B and phenol removal under UV, visible, and near‐infrared light (NIR) irradiation, which can be attributed to the vacancy VBi‐O′′′ as confirmed by the positron annihilation spectra. The presence of VBi‐O′′′ defects in monolayer BiO2−x promoted the separation of electrons and holes. This finding provides an atomic level understanding for developing highly efficient UV, visible, and NIR light responsive photocatalysts.