Simultaneous introduction of surface plasmon resonance effect and oxygen vacancies onto Bi/Bi2O3 heterostructure for enhancing visible-light photocatalysis

Bi nanoparticles were used to fabricate Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction by an in situ sintering method in a muffle furnace. The experimental results show that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and oxygen vacancy (OV) defects of Bi/Bi2O3 hybrids can enhance the visible-light absorption and carrier separation efficiency, and thus improve the photocatalytic activity of Bi/Bi2O3 composites for tetracycline (TC) degradation under visible-light illumination. Moreover, by means of increasing the calcination time of Bi nanoparticles, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the as-prepared hybrids shows a tendency of first increasing and then decreasing. When the calcination time was 15 min, a maximum value of 81.7% was reached within 60 min. This is higher than that of 16% of the pristine Bi nanoparticles. In addition, h(+) plays a major role during the degradation reaction of TC. This study can provide promising guide for the rational design and development of Bi-based photocatalysts and degradation of antibiotics under solar light illumination.

Automated summary

Bi/Bi2O3 heterojunction was fabricated using Bi nanoparticles by an in situ sintering method, and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and oxygen vacancy (OV) defects enhanced the visible-light absorption and carrier separation efficiency, improving the photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency increased and then decreased with increasing calcination time. This study provides promising guidance for the design of Bi-based photocatalysts and degradation of antibiotics under solar light illumination.