Ionic liquid-hydrothermal synthesis of Z-scheme BiOBr/Bi2WO6 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Abstract A hydrangea-like BiOBr/Bi2WO6 Z-scheme heterojunction was synthesized via ionic liquid-hydrothermal method for the first time. The hydrangea-like BiOBr microspheres were firstly synthesized by ionic liquid method, which not only provided “Bi3+”, but also were as substrate for Bi2WO6 forming. Then the outer part of the BiOBr microsphere was designed to react with Na2WO4 and form Bi2WO6 nanosheet with the aid of acid. This 3D/2D BiOBr/Bi2WO6 “Core-shell”-like material had relatively high BET surface and large pore volume and exhibited a superior optoelectronic performance and photocatalytic activity on reduction of heavy metal ions and degradation of drug and organic dye. The physical and chemical property of BiOBr/Bi2WO6 composites with different amount of Bi2WO6 were studied by XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, TEM, UV–vis diffuse reflection spectra (DRS) and BET surface area analyzer et. al. The photodegradation mechanism was also proposed based on the experimental results.