Micro and nano hierachical structures of BiOI/activated carbon for efficient visible-light-photocatalytic reactions

Jianhua Hou, Kun Jiang, Ming Shen*, Rui Wei, Xiaoge Wu, Faryal Idrees, Chuanbao Cao

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Constructing the heterojunctions or designing the novel nanostructures are thought as effective methods to improve photocatalytic activities of semiconductors. Herein, a one-step green route was developed to fabricate bismuth oxyiodide/activated carbon (BiOI/C) composite. The prepared BiOI/C exhibit obviously red shifts and increased absorption range of visible light. The presence of Bi-C bonds confirms the heterojunction, on account of which the BiOI nanosheets tightly grew on the surface of carbon and subsequently provided the hierarchical structure, sufficient interfacial interaction and high specific surface area. Significantly, the sufficient interracial interaction is beneficial to the detachment of electrons (e-)-holes (h+) pairs and the Bi-C bonds work like a bridge to rapidly transmit the e- from BiOI to carbon. What's more, the hierarchical structure of BiOI/C efficiently shortened the diffusion pathways of pollutants and the high SBET provided more exposed reaction sites. Benefiting from multiple synergistic effects, the as-prepared BiOI/C exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activities in degrading Rhodamine B (RhB) solution under visible light irradiation. The degradation rate of optimized BiOI/C reaches up to 95% in 120 min, and the efficiency is 3.36 times higher than pure BiOI. This study provides a promising strategy that activated carbon can be utilized in highly-efficiency photocatalysts.

Original languageEnglish
Article number11665
JournalScientific Reports
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017

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