Facile synthesis of novel round-cake-like α-Bi2O3 hierarchical architectures for extended visible-light photocatalytic performance

Round-cake-like alpha-Bi2O3 hierarchical architectures with nanorod units were successfully prepared through a sodium tartrate-induced aqueous method. The introduction of sodium tartrate to the reaction system was indispensable for the formation of the round-cake-like architectures, and NaOH amount played vital roles to manipulate the final morphologies of the samples. The alpha-Bi2O3 hierarchical architectures showed better photocatalytic performance than their rod-like counterparts on degrading bisphenol A (BPA) or ciprofloxacin (CIP) pollutants under visible-light irradiation. The superior photocatalytic activity was ascribed to the good light-harvesting ability of the nanomd assembled architectures. Trapping experiment results and EPR analysis revealed valid active species of h(+) and center dot O-2(-) radicals for the degradation system at neutral circumstance.

Automated summary

Round-cake-like alpha-Bi2O3 hierarchical architectures with nanorod units were successfully prepared through a sodium tartrate-induced aqueous method, showing superior photocatalytic activity in degrading pollutants under visible-light irradiation. The manipulation of final morphologies and good light-harvesting ability contribute to the enhanced photocatalytic performance of the assembled structures. EPR analysis revealed valid active species for the degradation system under neutral circumstances.