Confined active species and effective charge separation in Bi4O5I2 ultrathin hollow nanotube with increased photocatalytic activity

• Published in: Applied catalysis. B, Environmental Environmental, 2020-07, Vol.268, p.118403, Article 118403
• Main Authors: Ji, Mengxia, Di, Jun, Liu, Yiling, Chen, Rong, Li, Kai, Chen, Zhigang, Xia, Jiexiang, Li, Huaming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bi4O5I2; Bisphenol A; Catalytic activity; Charge efficiency; Charge separation; Chemical composition; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Hollow nanotube; Mannitol; Nanostructure; Nanotubes; Performance degradation; Photocatalysis; Photocatalytic activity; Photodegradation; Separation
• ISSN: 0926-3373; 1873-3883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2019.118403

Ultrathin Bi4O5I2 hollow nanotube was controlled synthesized via a facile PVP-assisted solvothermal method for the first time. Compared with as-prepared Bi4O5I2 nanosheet, unique hollow nanotube structure induced the generation of partial confined highly concentrated active species, thus the higher photogenerated charge separation efficiency and photocatalytic degradation performance was obtained. [Display omitted] •Bi4O5I2 ultrathin hollow nanotube with average diameter of 5 nm was synthesized.•Ultrathin hollow nanotube could promote charge directional separation and transfer.•Bi4O5I2-HNT owned higher carrier separation rate and stronger hole oxidizing ability.•Bi4O5I2-HNT displayed a higher photocatalytic degradation performance than nanosheet. Novel 1D Bi4O5I2 hollow nanotube (Bi4O5I2-HNT) material has been controlled synthesized via a facile PVP-assisted solvothermal method for the first time. Different parameters to control the formation of Bi4O5I2-HNT were tuned, such as usage amount of PVP, reaction temperature and mannitol concentration. Furthermore, structure, surface chemical composition, optical absorption ability and photogenerated charge separation efficiency of as-prepared Bi4O5I2 nanosheet and Bi4O5I2-HNT samples have been measured. Benefiting from the specific ultrathin hollow nanotube structure to produce confined highly concentrated active species and excellent electrical conductivity, Bi4O5I2-HNT material exhibited the increased photocatalytic degradation performance towards bisphenol A relative to Bi4O5I2 nanosheet. This work opens the door for designing other Bi-based photocatalysts via facile soft-template-assisted method to achieve a high-efficient photocatalytic performance.