Cathodic electrophoretic deposition of bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) coatings and their photocatalytic activities

In this study, cathodic electrophoretic deposition (EPD), a low cost, one-step and flexible method, has been successfully developed to prepare bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) coatings. Stable suspensions consisted of isopropyl alcohol and trace additive-polyethyleneimine. Deposition was achieved on the cathode at applied field strengths of 5-25 V mm(-1)using a total solids loading of 0.5-2 g L(-1)at ambient temperature and pressure. The deposition mechanism of Bi(2)O(3)coatings was firstly given, and deposition kinetics were investigated in detail. The deposits were characterized qualitatively by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) observation, atomic force microscope( AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, respectively. Moreover, the photocatalytic activities of obtained coatings were evaluated through degradation of Rhodamine B under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.