title: Hydrothermal synthesis of C3N4/BiOIO3 heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic properties.
abstract: The C3N4/BiOIO3 composites with heterostructures have been fabricated by simply depositing BiOIO3 on the surface of C3N4 at hydrothermal conditions, using bismuth nitrate and potassium iodate as precursors. C3N4 is an excellent organic semiconductor, which can be excited by visible light. BiOIO3 is a layered bismuth-based compound that has an internal polar field. Coupling C3N4 with BiOIO3 can combine the advantages of the two compounds and obtain better photocatalytic properties. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectra have been carried out to confirm the structures and morphologies of as-prepared products. The absorption properties have been characterized by diffuse reflectance spectra and the photocatalytic activities have been evaluated by photodegradation of methyl orange, Rhodamine B and 2,4-dichlorophenol. Compared with C3N4, all C3N4/BiOIO3 composites exhibit better visible-light-driven photocatalytic properties. It is a synergetic effect that enables the composites to harvest light and promote charge separation, which eventually leads to the enhancement of the photocatalytic efficiencies. Under UV-vis light irradiation, C3N4/BiOIO3 composites also exhibit better activities, and the charge transfer process is similar to a redox mediator-free Z-scheme system.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Hefeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China. Electronic address: bbhuang@sdu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Baibiao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
keywords: BiOIO(3); C(3)N(4); Heterostructure; Photocatalysis