Preparation and stabilization of γ-Bi2O3 photocatalyst by adding surfactant and its photocatalytic performance

Stable gamma-Bi2O3 was successfully prepared through the introduction of a surfactant (PEG6000, PEG20000, PVP-K30, CTAB, Tetraethylammonium hydroxide) in a facile solution crystallization method at low temperature. XRD and SEM were used to characterize the phase transformation and morphology of the Bi2O3 samples. It is found that the surfactant used in this study plays a key role in stabilizing gamma-Bi2O3 by prohibiting the transition from gamma-Bi2O3 to alpha-Bi2O3 as the reaction time increases. Moreover, these above surfactants have no obvious effect on the particle size and morphology of gamma-Bi2O3. Photocatalytic degradation of RhB results show that stable gamma-Bi2O3 has a higher photocatalytic activity than alpha-Bi2O3.