F127-assisted hydrothermal preparation of BiOI with enhanced sunlight-driven photocatalytic activity originated from the effective separation of photo-induced carriers

BiOI photocatalyst with remarkably enhanced sunlight-driven photocatalytic performance was prepared by a facile hydrothermal approach with the assistance of EO106PO70EO106 (F127). Brunauer -Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) and electron spin-resonance (ESR) spectra were employed to study the samples. The level of center dot O-2(-) was investigated using nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT)-center dot O-2(-) exclusive reaction. The results show that F127 dramatically promotes the specific area parameters, enhances the separation efficiency of photo-induced carriers and surface hydroxyl content as well as expedites the formation of center dot O-2(-). The photocatalytic activities of two photocatalysts for decomposition of methyl orange (MO) were evaluated. The photocatalytic activity of F127-BiOI is more than twice of that of BiOI.