Spiral carbon fibers modified Bi2WO6 with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In this work, spiral carbon fibers (SCFs) were employed to surface decoration of Bi2WO6 (BWO) through a facile hydrothermal method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman, electron spin-resonance (ESR) and surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS). The results reveal that SCFs can significantly tune the separation behaviors of photoinduced carriers, promote the surface hydroxyl level and the formation of center dot O-2(-). Trapping experiments reveal that holes (h(+)) and superoxide radicals (center dot O-2(-)) are the leading active species during the photocatalytic abatement of rhodamine B (RhB). Photocatalytic performance of SCEs/BWO composites was evaluated by degradation of RhB. When the mass ratio of SCFs/BWO is 1.0%, the photocatalytic performance of SCFs/BWO composite is nearly 3 times of that of the reference BWO. Decoration of BWO by SCFs is a powerful strategy to ameliorate the photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6.