Recent developments on bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX; X = Cl, Br, I) based ternary nanocomposite photocatalysts for environmental applications

Malathi Arumugam; Thillai Sivakumar Natarajan; Tinnakorn Saelee; Supareak Praserthdam; Muthupandian Ashokkumar; Piyasan Praserthdam

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131054

Recent developments on bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX; X = Cl, Br, I) based ternary nanocomposite photocatalysts for environmental applications

Chemosphere. 2021 Nov:282:131054. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131054. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Authors

Malathi Arumugam¹, Thillai Sivakumar Natarajan², Tinnakorn Saelee³, Supareak Praserthdam³, Muthupandian Ashokkumar⁴, Piyasan Praserthdam⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
² Environmental Science Laboratory, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Adyar, Chennai, 600 020, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ High-Performance Computing Unit (CECC-HCU), Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering (CECC), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
⁴ School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
⁵ Center of Excellence on Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: piyasan.p@chula.ac.th.

PMID: 34470150
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131054

Abstract

Photocatalytic treatment of organic pollutants present in wastewater using semiconductor nanomaterials under light irradiation is one of the efficient advanced oxidation processes. Stable metal oxide (e.g. TiO₂) based semiconductor photocatalytic systems have been mainly investigated for this purpose. Nevertheless, their large band gap (~3.2 eV) makes them inefficient in utilization of visible light portion of solar light leading to a lower degradation efficiency. Investigations have focused on the development of visible light responsive bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX; X = Cl, Br, I), one of the potential nanomaterials with unique layered structure, for efficient absorption of solar light for the degradation of pollutants. However, the rapid recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers limits their practical applicability. To overcome such drawbacks, the development of BiOX based ternary nanocomposites received significant attention because of their unique structural and electronic properties, improved visible light response and increased separation and transfer rate of photogenerated charge carriers. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent developments on bismuth oxyhalides-based ternary nanocomposites for enhanced environmental pollutants decomposition under visible light irradiation. The principles of photocatalysis, synthetic methodologies of bismuth oxyhalides and their characteristics such as heterojunctions formation, improved visible light response and separation rate of charge carriers and the mechanisms for enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity are discussed. In addition, the future prospects on the improvement in the photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxyhalides-based ternary nanocomposites are also discussed. This review could be beneficial for designing new ternary nanocomposites with superior visible light photocatalytic efficiency.

Keywords: Bismuth oxyhalides; Organic pollutants; Photocatalysis; Ternary nanocomposite; Wastewater treatment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Bismuth*
Catalysis
Light
Nanocomposites*
Oxidation-Reduction

Substances

Bismuth