A controlled anion exchange strategy to synthesize core-shell β-bismuth oxide/bismuth sulfide hollow heterostructures with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 435; no. 435; pp. 91 - 98
• Main Authors: Yan, Yunhui, Zhou, Zhaoxian, Zhao, Xiaohua, Zhou, Jianguo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.12.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Active control; Bi2S3; Catalysis; Chemistry; Economics; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Heterojunctions; Heterostructure; Heterostructures; In situ; Ion-exchange; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photochemistry; Physical chemistry of induced reactions (with radiations, particles and ultrasonics); Shells; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; β-Bi2O3; Heterostructure; Ion-exchange; Bi2S3; In situ; Photocatalysis; β-Bi2O3; Bismuth oxide; Bi; β-Bi; Photocatalyst; O; Heterogeneous catalysis; Anion exchange; S; Ion exchange; β-BiO; BiS
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2014.08.027

[Display omitted] •Novel core/shell β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 hollow heterostructures were synthesized by two-steps method.•The β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 heterostructure exhibited a higher photoactivity than the pure β-Bi2O3.•The p–n heterojunction formed between β-Bi2O3 and Bi2S3 facilitates photogenerated carrier separation.•The study provides an effective strategy to develop more efficient heterostructured photocatalyst. Heterojunction construction is an exciting direction to pursue for highly active photocatalysts. In this study, novel core/shell β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 hollow heterostructures were successfully synthesized through a simple and economical ion exchange method between β-Bi2O3 hollow microspheres and thioacetamide (CH3CSNH2, TAA), and characterized by multiform techniques, such as XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, BET, DRS and PL. The results indicated that the core/shell β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 hollow heterostructures exhibited strong absorption in visible light region and excellent photocatalytic performance for decomposing rhodamine B (RhB) compared with pure β-Bi2O3 under visible light irradiation. Among the β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 photocatalysts with different molar percentage of Bi2S3 to initial β-Bi2O3, the β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3 (10%) heterostructures exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, which was about 3.3 times higher than that of pure β-Bi2O3 sample. Moreover, the study on the mechanism suggested that the enhanced photocatalytic activity mainly resulted from the role of β-Bi2O3–Bi2S3 heterojunction formed in the β-Bi2O3/Bi2S3, which could lead to efficient separation of photoinduced carriers. Additionally, the photosensitization of Bi2S3 and the hollow nature of β-Bi2O3 were also responsible for the high photocatalytic activity.