Issue 78, 2014

Plasmonic Z-scheme α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–AgCl photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Environmental treatment over bismuth based catalysts due to their appropriate band structure and abundance is a promising process. However, the practical application of single-phase bismuth based catalysts is hindered by serious charge transport limitations. The plasmonic Z-scheme α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–AgCl photocatalysts resolving the drawbacks of single-component photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized by anchoring Ag–AgCl nanocrystals on the surfaces of α/β-Bi2O3 nanowire heterojunctions via the deposition–precipitation method assisted by the photo-reduction process. The as-prepared samples were characterized by a series of techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy (EM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectra (UV-vis). The effects of the amount and the photo-reduction time of Ag–AgCl nanocrystals on the photocatalytic performance for the α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–AgCl composites were systematically investigated. Inspiringly, the plasmonic α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–10wt% AgCl–30 composites exhibit superior photocatalytic performance compared to α/β-Bi2O3 nanowires for the degradation of Rhodamine B and acid orange 7 dyes due to the effective charge transfer between Ag–AgCl nanocrystals and α/β-Bi2O3 nanowires. On the basis of photocatalytic activity and band structure analysis, a plasmonic Z-scheme photocatalytic mechanism is proposed; namely, two-step visible-light absorption is caused by the localized surface plasmon resonance of metallic Ag nanocrystals and the band gap photoexcitation of α/β-Bi2O3. This work could provide new insights into the fabrication of plasmonic Z-scheme photocatalysts with high performance and facilitate their practical application in environmental remediation issues.

Graphical abstract: Plasmonic Z-scheme α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–AgCl photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Aug 2014
Accepted
28 Aug 2014
First published
28 Aug 2014

RSC Adv., 2014,4, 41622-41630

Author version available

Plasmonic Z-scheme α/β-Bi2O3–Ag–AgCl photocatalyst with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

H. Cheng, J. Hou, H. Zhu and X. Guo, RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 41622 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA07938H

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