Preparation of Bi-based heterostructures through the one-pot method with the potential to photocatalytic applications

Eduardo  Henrique Dias; Gelson Tiago dos Santos Tavares da Silv; Osmando  Ferreira Lopes; Caue Ribeiro

doi:10.30609/jeti.v4i01.11438

Eduardo Henrique Dias Institute of Chemistry of Sao Carlos, University of Sao Paulo
Gelson Tiago dos Santos Tavares da Silv Embrapa
Osmando Ferreira Lopes Laboratory of Photochemistry and Materials Science, Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Uberlandia
Caue Ribeiro Nanotechnology National Laboratory for Agriculture (LNNA), Embrapa Instrumentation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30609/jeti.v4i01.11438

Abstract

This paper describes a facile one-pot method to obtain Bi-based heterostructures by calcination process and evaluate the physical-chemical properties. The increase in the temperature treatment changed the sample’s phase crystalline, the synthesis method proposed was able to obtain (BiO)₂CO₃, α-Bi₂O_3, and β-Bi₂O₃ pure phases and (BiO)₂CO₃/α-Bi₂O₃ and α-Bi₂O₃/β-Bi₂O₃ heterostructures. Additionally, the annealing temperature also influences the morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties. The temperature increases decreased the sample’s bandgap, and the above 350ºC, the samples became active under visible radiation. The photocatalytic performance of the samples was evaluated under UV and visible radiation on the MB degradation, it was observed that under UV radiation, the (BiO)₂CO₃ phase exhibited higher performance than the Bi₂O₃ phase. Therefore, we can confirm that the increases in the temperature harmed the photocatalytic performance under UV radiation. On the other hand, synthesized samples above 300°C showed the best performance under visible radiation, due to the bandgap reduction and the electron/hole pair lifetime increasing.