Journal
RSC ADVANCES
Volume 4, Issue 78, Pages 41622-41630Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c4ra07938h
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Funding
- National Science Foundation of China [51472027, 51102015, 50974012, U1460201]
- Beijing High School Youth Talent Plan [YETP0351]
- National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2013CB632404]
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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 alpha/beta-Bi2O3-Ag-AgCl photocatalysts resolving the drawbacks of single-component photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized by anchoring Ag-AgCl nanocrystals on the surfaces of alpha/beta-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 alpha/beta-Bi2O3-Ag-AgCl composites were systematically investigated. Inspiringly, the plasmonic alpha/beta-Bi2O3-Ag-10wt% AgCl-30 composites exhibit superior photocatalytic performance compared to alpha/beta-Bi2O3 nanowires for the degradation of Rhodamine B and acid orange 7 dyes due to the effective charge transfer between Ag-AgCl nanocrystals and alpha/beta-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 alpha/beta-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.
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