One-pot synthesis of visible-light-driven photocatalyst for degradation of Rhodamine B: Graphene based bismuth/bismuth(III) oxybromide

A ternary photocatalyst, graphene based bismuth modified bismuth(III) oxybromide (Bi/BiOBr/G), was synthesized via a facile one-step solvothermal method using only ethylene glycol as both solvent and reducing reagent. Bi/BiOBr/G exhibits higher photocatalytic activity than bismuth(III) oxybromide (BiOBr) on degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light illumination, and the photodegradation rate is 4.9 times that of BiOBr. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect among Bismuth, graphene and BiOBr, which can effectively promote the visible-light absorption of Bi/BiOBr/G and the separation of photogenerated charge carriers. The conditions influencing the photocatalytic performance of Bi/BiOBr/G were also investigated in detail, as well as the photocatalytic mechanism of the degradation. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.