Journal
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
Volume 1, Issue 27, Pages 7949-7956Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c3ta10940b
Keywords
-
Funding
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences [DE-FG02-07ER46467]
- National Science Foundation [DMR 1035196, CMMI 1030048]
- Royalty Research Fund (RRF), Office of Research at University of Washington
- National Nature Science Foundation of China [51225402]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Here we report a facile hydrothermal route for the preparation of BiOBr-Bi2WO6 mesoporous nanosheet composites (MNCs) in the presence of titanium isopropoxide, Ti((OPr)-Pr-i)(4). High resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed for structural and composition analyses of the MNCs. The photogenerated charge transfer and photocatalytic activity of BiOBr-Bi2WO6 MNCs were investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. We propose mechanisms to illustrate how titanium alkoxide induces the formation of mesoporous nanosheet heterostructures and the enhanced photodecomposition efficiency of the dye under low light intensity illumination. Overall, our results suggest that titanium alkoxide is not only strongly involved in the growth of BiOBr (001) facets, but also plays a critical role in the pore evolution of the product. Kelvin probe force microscopy analysis allows us to conclude that the resulting nanocomposites demonstrate high photogenerated charge mobility and a long lifetime. Dye molecules can be rapidly and thoroughly decomposed with the photocatalyst under very low light intensity illumination. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to well matched band edge positions of BiOBr and Bi2WO6 and the large specific surface area of the MNCs in view of the incorporation of mesopores and the highly exposed BiOBr (001) facet due to the use of Ti((OPr)-Pr-i)(4) during the synthesis. The results presented here are expected to make a contribution toward the development of delicate nanocomposites for photocatalytic water purification and solar energy utilization.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available