Synthesis of δ-Bi2O3 microflowers and nanosheets using CH3COO(BiO) self-sacrifice precursor

Bismuthyl acetate (CH3COO(BiO); BiOAc) dispersed nanosheets and flower-like hierarchical architectures were easily prepared from the reaction between Bi2O3 and glacial acetic acid (HAc) or Bi(NO3)(3 center dot)5H(2)O and HAc and subsequent neutralization by Na2CO3 under ambient condition. The BiOAc could be completely soluble in HAc-water (0.04-250 v/v) mixture but insoluble in pure HAc or water, and thus could be collected as a novel photocatalyst candidate because of its availability, non-toxicity and cheapness. Rhodamine B (RhB) could be completely degraded over BiOAc nanosheets within 4 min of UV light irradiation. Especially, BiOAc nanosheets and microflowers could be converted to delta-Bi2O3 by thermal treatment, while the morphology remained unchanged. The as-prepared delta-Bi2O3 exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation under simulated sunlight illumination owing to its suitable band gap energy. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.