Facile synthesis of α/β-Bi 2 O 3 hetero-phase junction by a solvothermal method for enhanced photocatalytic activities

A novel alpha/beta-Bi2O3 hetero-phase junction (xBB) was successfully prepared by a simple in-situ growth method without further calcination, in which alpha-Bi2O3 served as the substrate for the growth of beta-Bi2O3 nanosheets. The nanocomposites were well characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-vis DRS, XPS, EIS, etc. The characterizations testified that the bismuth oxides of two crystal phases were in close contact, and the hetero-phase junction was formed. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) under visible light illumination. With the optimum mass ratio, 0.5BB sample exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, the removal rates were 82.7 % for TC-HCl in 120 min and 94.9 % for RhB in 90 min, and a rate constant of 0.0297min1 was evaluated for RhB degradation, which were higher than that of pure alpha-Bi2O3 (0.0019 min-1) and beta-Bi2O3 (0.0028 min-1) by a factor of 15.6 and 11.9, respectively. The synthetic method provides a promising route for the in-situ construction of hetero-phase junction nanocomposites.

Automated summary

A novel alpha/beta-Bi2O3 hetero-phase junction (xBB) was successfully prepared by a simple in-situ growth method, showing significantly improved photocatalytic activity compared to pure alpha-Bi2O3 and beta-Bi2O3. The method provides a promising route for the in-situ construction of hetero-phase junction nanocomposites, offering new possibilities for research in the field of photocatalysis.