Novel synthesis of Z-scheme α-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst and its enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance: Influence of calcination temperature

In this study, alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 nanocomposite with direct Z-scheme was successfully prepared through calcination of BiOCOOH/g-C3N4 precursor at different temperature. Meanwhile, the effect of calcination temperature on the physicochemical properties of alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 was studied. All results confirmed that calcination temperature greatly influences structural, morphology, surface states, photoelectrochemical property and photocatalytic (PC) performance of alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 composite. Furthermore, the alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 composite was applied as photocatalyst to degrade amido black 10B dye under visible light irradiation. It was found that the composite synthesized at 400 degrees C exhibited the highest PC performance due to the intense visible light absorbance and high separation efficiency of electron and hole pairs. Besides, the possible PC mechanism was proposed that the photo-generated charge carrier migration in alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 photocatalyst followed a Z-scheme structure. Finally, the stability test also manifest that the alpha-Bi2O3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalyst has good stability and reusability, which was a promising candidate for wastewater treatment. (C) 2020 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.