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Title: Visible-light-driven Bi 2 O 3 /WO 3 composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Journal Article · · RSC Advances
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ra13579f· OSTI ID:1286959
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Wake Forest Univ., Winston Salem, NC (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Semiconductor heterojunctions (composites) have been shown to be effective photocatalytic materials to overcome the drawbacks of low photocatalytic efficiency that results from electron–hole recombination and narrow photo-response range. We prepared a novel visible-light-driven Bi2O3/WO3 composite photocatalyst by hydrothermal synthesis. The composite was characterized by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to better understand the structures, compositions, morphologies and optical properties. Bi2O3/WO3 heterojunction was found to exhibit significantly higher photocatalytic activity towards the decomposition of Rhodamine B (RhB) and 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) under visible light irradiation compared to that of Bi2O3 and WO3. A tentative mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the heterostructured composite is discussed based on observed activity, band position calculations, photoluminescence, and electrochemical impedance data. Our study provides a new strategy for the design of composite materials with enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1286959
Journal Information:
RSC Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 111; ISSN 2046-2069
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

Role of fullerene to improve the WO 3 performance for photocatalytic applications and hydrogen evolution journal October 2018