Non-additional carbon source one-step synthesis of Bi2O2CO3-based ternary composite for efficient Z-scheme photocatalysis

Bi2O2CO3-based ternary composite materials are generally synthesized by two- or multi-step method and special precursor of CO32- is usually utilized in synthesis of Bi2O2CO3, which are time-consuming, laborious and relatively costly. In this paper, for the first time, a facile one-step solvothermal method is used to fabricate Z-scheme Bi2O2CO3/Bi/Bi2WO6 ternary composites. Interestingly, ethylene glycol not only acts as solvent for the reaction system, but also reduced Bi3+ into metallic Bi and itself is oxidized to CO32-, which could construct Bi2O2CO3. On this occasion, Bi2O2CO3/Bi/Bi2WO6 ternary composites are obtained after one-step method. High resolution transmission electron microscopy clearly reveals each component in composites. The as-prepared samples could be applied in various photocatalytic activities. Under solar light irradiation, Bi2O2CO3/Bi/Bi2WO6 composites exhibited prominent photodegradation performances for both ciprofloxacin and bisphenol A. Meanwhile, these composites could also be used in efficient photoreduction of CO2. The efficient photocatalytic activity could be mainly ascribed to Z-scheme electron transfer mechanism in ternary composites, which is determined by surface redox reactions, active species trapping experiment, electron spin resonance spectrum. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.