Advertisement

Journal of the Australian Ceramic Society

, Volume 55, Issue 1, pp 71–76 | Cite as

Rapid preparation of α, β-Bi2O3 and α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic properties

  • Xiaoni Du
  • Yang Liu
  • Xiaohong WangEmail author
  • Jingqing Feng
  • Chaofei Ren
Research
First Online:
  • 63 Downloads

Abstract

α-Bi2O3 and β-Bi2O3 nanoparticles were selectively synthesized via one-step solution combustion synthesis (SCS) using bismuth nitrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) as the oxidant and tartaric acid (C4H6O6) as the fuel, and α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction was rapidly prepared by treating SCS β-Bi2O3 powders with NaOH solution. The physical and chemical properties of as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, PL, and UV-vis techniques. The formation of α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction can be proven by TEM, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and PL spectra results. The band gap energies of α-Bi2O3, β-Bi2O3, and α/β-Bi2O3 measured by UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra were estimated to be about 2.9, 2.48, and 2.7 eV, respectively. The PL spectra of α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction showed higher efficiency of charge separation and transfer across the α–β phase junction than those of α-Bi2O3 and β-Bi2O3, leading to the enhancement of photocatalytic activity. The synthesized α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction can degrade 86% of rhodamin B (RhB) after 180 min under visible-light irradiation, better than those of pure α-Bi2O3 (24%, 180 min) and pure β-Bi2O3 (60%, 180 min). Consequently, α/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction is a promising photocatalyst, which can be easily prepared by SCS and post-treatment of NaOH solution.

Keywords

α-Bi2O3 β-Bi2O3 α/β-Bi2O3 Solution combustion synthesis Photocatalysis 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Funding information

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2017XKQY006).

References

  1. 1.
    Chen, W.F., Chen, H., Koshy, P., Sorrell, S.S.: Photocatalytic performance of vanadium-doper and cobalt-doper TiO2 thin film. J Aust Ceram Soc. 51, 1 (2015)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    Zhukovskiy, M.A., Stroyuk, A.L., Shvalagin, V.V., Amirnova, N.P., Lytvyn, O.S., Eremenko, A.M.: Photocatalytic growth of CdS, PbS, and CuxS nanoparticles on the nanocrystalline TiO2 films. J Photochem Photobiol A Chem. 203, 137 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Kozhummal, R., Yang, Y., Güder, F., Hartle, A., Lu, X., Küçükbayrak, U.M., Matro-Alonso, A., Elwenspoek, M., Zacharias, M.: Homoepitaxial branching: an unusual polymorph of zinc oxide derived from seeded solution growth. ACS Nano. 6, 7133 (2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Wang, J., Liu, J., Wang, B., Zhu, L.L., Hu, J.H., Xu, H.: Fabrication of α-Bi2O3 microrods by solvothermal method and their photocatalytic performance. Chem Lett. 43, 547 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    Zhang, H., Wu, P., Li, Y., Liao, L., Fang, Z., Zhong, X.: Preparation of bismuth oxide quantum dots and their photocatalytic activity in a homogeneous system. ChemCatChem. 2, 1115 (2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    In, J., Yoon, I., Seo, K., Park, J., Choo, J., Lee, Y., Kim, B.: Polymorph-tuned synthesis of α- and β-Bi2O3 nanowires and determination of their growth direction from polarized Raman single nanowire microscopy. Chemistry. 17, 1304 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Malligavathy, M., Padiyan, D.P.: Role of pH in the hydrothermal synthesis of phase pure alpha Bi2O3 nanoparticles and its structural characterization. Adv Mater Process. 2, 51 (2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    Hameed, A., Montini, T., Gombac, V., Fornasiero, P.: Surface phases and photocatalytic activity correlation of Bi2O3/Bi2O4-x nanocomposite. J Am Chem Soc. 130, 9658 (2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Chen, R., Shen, Z.R., Wang, H., Zhou, H.J., Liu, Y.P., Ding, D.T., Chen, T.H.: Fabrication of mesh-like bismuth oxide single crystalline nanoflakes and their visible light photocatalytic activity. J Alloys Compd. 509, 2588 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Wang, C., Shao, C., Wang, L., Zhang, L., Li, X., Liu, Y.: Electrospinning preparation, characterization and photocatalytic properties of Bi2O3 nanofibers. J Colloid Interface Sci. 331, 242 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Xiao, X., Hu, R., Liu, C., Xing, C., Qian, C., Zuo, X., Nan, J., Wang, L.: Facile large-scale synthesis of β-Bi2O3 nanospheres as a highly efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of acetaminophen under visible light irradiation. Appl Catal B Environ. S140, 433 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Chandradass, J., Kim, K.H.: Mixture of fuels approach for the solution combustion synthesis of LaAlO3 nanopowders. Adv Powder Technol. 21, 100 (2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    Kim, M.G., Kanatzidis, M.G., Facchetti, A., Marks, T.T.: Low-temperature fabrication of high-performance metal oxide thin-film electronics via combustion processing. Nat Mater. 10, 382 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    Hao, Y.J., Li, F.T., Chen, F., Chai, M.J., Liu, R.H., Wang, X.J.: In situ one-step combustion synthesis of Bi2O3/Bi2WO6 heterojunctions with notable visible light photocatalytic activities. Mater Lett. 124, 1 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. 15.
    La, J., Huang, Y., Luo, G., Lai, J., Liu, C.S., Chu, G.: Synthesis of bismuth oxide nanoparticles by solution combustion method. Part Sci Technol. 31, 287 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Hou, J., Yang, C., Wang, Z., Zhou, W., Jiao, S., Zhu, H.: In situ synthesis of α–β phase heterojunction on Bi2O3 nanowires with exceptional visible-light photocatalytic performance. Appl Catal B Environ. 142, 504 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Ge, M., Li, Y., Liu, L., Zhou, Z., Chen, W.: Bi2O3−Bi2WO6 composite microspheres: hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic performances. J Phys Chem C. 115, 5220 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    Shi, Y., Luo, L., Zhang, Y., Chen, Y., Wang, S., Li, L., Long, Y., Jiang, F.: Synthesis and characterization of α/β-Bi2O3 with enhanced photocatalytic activity for 17 α-ethynylestradiol. Ceram Int. 53, 1049 (2017)Google Scholar
  19. 19.
    Gadhi, T.A., Hernández-Gordillo, A., Bizarro, M., Jagdale, P., Tagliaferro, A., Rodil, S.E.: Efficient α/β-Bi2O3 composite for the sequential photodegradation of two-dyes mixture. Ceram Int. 42, 13065 (2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    Singh, S., Sharma, R., Joshi, G., Pandey, J.K.: Formation of intermediate band and low recombination rate in ZnO-BiVO4 heterostructured photocatalyst: investigation based on experimental and theoretical studies. Korean J Chem Eng. 34, 500 (2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    Sharma, R., Khanuja, M., Sharma, S.N., Sinha, O.P.: Reduced band gap & charge recombination rate in Se doped α-Bi2O3 leads to enhanced photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic performance: theoretical & experimental insight. Int J Hydrog Energy. 42, 20638 (2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Hou, J., Wang, Z., Jiao, S., Zhu, H.: 3D Bi12TiO20/TiO2 hierarchical heterostructure: synthesis and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activities. J Hazard Mater. 192, 1772 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    Gou, W., Wu, P., Jiang, D., Ma, X.: Synthesis of AgBr@Bi2O3 composite with enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light. J Alloys Compd. 646, 437 (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Australian Ceramic Society 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Xiaoni Du
    • 1
  • Yang Liu
    • 1
  • Xiaohong Wang
    • 1
    Email author
  • Jingqing Feng
    • 1
  • Chaofei Ren
    • 1
  1. 1.School of Materials Science and EngineeringChina University of Ming and TechnologyXuzhouPeople’s Republic of China

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options