Enriched photoelectrocatalytic degradation and photoelectric performance of BiOI photoelectrode by coupling rGO

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Vol. 208; pp. 22 - 34
• Main Authors: Wang, Huan, Liang, Yinghua, Liu, Li, Hu, Jinshan, Wu, Ping, Cui, Wenquan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 05.07.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: BiOI; Catalysis; Charge transfer; Conjugation; Degradation; Efficiency; Fourier transforms; Hybrid systems; Hybridization; Hybrids; Infrared analysis; Infrared radiation; Infrared spectra; Infrared spectroscopy; Organic pollutants; Photodegradation; Photoelectricity; Photoelectrocatalysis; Photoelectron spectroscopy; Pollutants; Raman spectra; Raman spectroscopy; Reduced graphene oxide; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectroscopic analysis; Spectroscopy; Strong interactions (field theory); X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Photoelectrocatalysis; Organic pollutants; Reduced graphene oxide; Hybridization; BiOI
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.02.055

[Display omitted] •The rGO wrapped n-type BiOI photoelectrode is successfully synthesized.•The BiOI@rGO increases the charge separation and photoconversion efficiency.•The hybrid photoelectrode shows enhanced photoelectrocatalytic degradation for RhB. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapped n-type BiOI hybrids for enhanced photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) degradation of organic pollutants is reported. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images showed that the rGO was homogeneously coated on the surface of BiOI, forming a core@shell structure. Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses showed that an intense interaction was formed between rGO and BiOI, which could highly promote the photo-generated charge transfer rate and photoelectric conversion efficiency. It was experimentally demonstrated that the degradation efficiency of organic pollutants for PEC process was 40.6% and 62.7% higher than that of photocatalytic (PC) and electrocatalytic (EC) processes, respectively. Further analyses indicated that the improvement in PEC degradation of organic pollutants benefited from: (1) a strong interaction and a wide range of conjugation were formed in the hybrid system; (2) negative shifts for the flat band potential in case of BiOI@rGO composites.