Ionic liquid-assisted strategy for bismuth-rich bismuth oxybromides nanosheets with superior visible light-driven photocatalytic removal of bisphenol-A

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Jul 1:473:112-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.03.046. Epub 2016 Mar 19.

Abstract

Novel Bi4O5Br2 photocatalysts were synthesized by a one-pot solvothermal method in the presence of reactable ionic liquid 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C16mim]Br). X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and other characterizations were applied to investigate their structures, morphologies, optical and electronic properties. Bisphenol-A (BPA) was chosen to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of Bi4O5Br2 nanosheets. After the visible light irradiation, about 91.2% of BPA were removed by Bi4O5Br2 after 3.5h with the reaction rate constant of 0.01086, which is much higher than that of the pure BiOBr (24.4%). Liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique was used to track the intermediates species, showing the photocatalytic mechanism is related to photogenerated holes instead of hydroxyl radicals. The as-prepared Bi4O5Br2 also exhibited excellent stability as well as reusability, implying a great promising practical application for the photodegradation of organic pollutants.

Keywords: Bi(4)O(5)Br(2); Bisphenol-A; Photocatalysis; Reactable ionic liquid.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't