Originally, the new catalyst Bi2SmSbO7 was synthesized by the hydrothermal synthesis method or by the solid-phase sintering method at a lofty temperature. A solvothermal method was utilized to prepare a Bi2SmSbO7/ZnBiYO4 heterojunction photocatalyst (BZHP). The crystal structure of Bi2SmSbO7 belonged to the pyrochlore structure and face-centered cubic crystal system by the space group of Fd3m. The cell parameter a was equivalent to 10.835(1) Å (Bi2SmSbO7). With Bi2SmSbO7/ZnBiYO4 heterojunction (BZH) as the photocatalyst, the removal rate (RR) of direct orange (DO) and the total organic carbon were 99.10% and 96.21% after visible light irradiation of 160 min (VLI-160M). The kinetic constant k toward DO concentration and visible light irradiation time (VLI) with BZH as photocatalyst reached 2.167 min−1. The kinetic constant k, which was concerned with total organic carbon, reached 0.047 min−1. The kinetic curve that came from DO degradation with BZH as a catalyst under VLI conformed to the second-order reaction kinetics. After VLI-160M, the photocatalytic degradation (PD) removal percentage of DO with BZH as the photocatalyst was 1.200 times, 1.268 times or 3.019 times that with Bi2SmSbO7 as the photocatalyst, ZnBiYO4 as the photocatalyst or with nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide as the photocatalyst. The photocatalytic activity (PA) was as following: BZH > Bi2SmSbO7 > ZnBiYO4 > nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide. After VLI-160M for three cycles of experiments with BZH as the photocatalyst, the RR of DO reached 98.03%, 96.73% and 95.43%, respectively, which meant that BZHP possessed high stability. By using the experiment of adding a trapping agent, the oxidative purifying capability for degradation of direct orange, which was in gradual depressed order, was as following: hydroxyl radical > superoxide anion > holes. Finally, the possible degradation pathway and degradation mechanism of DO were discussed systematically. A new high active heterojunction catalyst BZHP, which could efficiently remove toxic organic pollutants such as DO from dye wastewater after VLI, was obtained. Our research was meant to improve the photocatalytic property of the single photocatalyst.
Keywords: Bi2SmSbO7; Bi2SmSbO7/ZnBiYO4 heterojunction; direct orange; photocatalytic degradation; visible light irradiation.