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Enhanced visible-light responsive photocatalytic activity of Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composites and mechanism investigation

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Abstract

Pure Bi25FeO40, Bi2Fe4O9, and different weight ratios of Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composite photocatalysts have been synthesized via a hydrothermal process combined with a mixing-calcination method and evaluated as visible-light responsive catalyst for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). All the as-prepared samples have been characterized by a range of techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), UV–vis absorption spectra (DSR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and High-resolution TEM (HRTEM). The XRD, FT-IR, TEM and HRTEM results confirm that the composite only consists of Bi25FeO40 and Bi2Fe4O9. In the Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composites, closely contacted interfaces have been observed. Compared with the single-phase Bi25FeO40 and Bi2Fe4O9, Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composites exhibit enhanced visible-light responsive photocatalytic activities. The photocatalytic efficiency of optimized Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composite with Bi2Fe4O9 weight ratio of 30% is about 8.8 and 6.2 times higher than that of pure Bi25FeO40 and Bi2Fe4O9, respectively. On the basis of electronic energy-band structure analysis, the active species trap** experiments and the electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) performance, a heterojunction-type charge transfer mechanism interpreting the enhanced photocatalytic activities of the composite are proposed and discussed. In addition, the effects of different Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 weight ratios and their geometry architecture on photocatalytic activities are also thoroughly discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11704288 and 11504277) and the Scientific Project provided by Wuhan Government (Grant No.: 2016010101010026).

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  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Geming Wang, Da Cheng, Tiancheng He, Yiyu Hu, Quanrong Deng, Yangwu Mao & Shenggao Wang

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Wang, G., Cheng, D., He, T. et al. Enhanced visible-light responsive photocatalytic activity of Bi25FeO40/Bi2Fe4O9 composites and mechanism investigation. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 30, 10923–10933 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-01436-4

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