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A novel Z-scheme Bi2WO6-based photocatalyst with enhanced dye degradation activity

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Abstract

To overcome the drawback caused by rapid recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, a novel visible-light-driven Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 Z-scheme photocatalyst was fabricated through the hydrothermal method. The as-prepared sample was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). At the same time, the photocatalytic performance of ternary material was estimated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) aqueous solution under visible-light irradiation. Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 displayed a superior photocatalytic performance compared with pure Bi2WO6. A dye degradation rate of 98.1% was appeared in ternary material under a 30-min photocatalytic experiment. r-GO plays an important role in ternary material; it acted as a charge-transfer bridge to accelerate electron transfer from Bi2WO6 to Bi25FeO40. Therefore, the recombination of the photogenerated electron holes of the Bi2WO6 itself was effectively suppressed. Most important, the possible photocatalytic mechanism was evaluated on the basis of UV–vis and PL analysis. This work provides a new idea for the synthesis of new photocatalytic materials with enhanced photocatalytic properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

    Rui Zhang, Tongqing Zhang, Chen Zhao, Qiong Han, Yu Li, Yi Liu & Kunlin Zeng

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  1. Rui Zhang
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  2. Tongqing Zhang
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  3. Chen Zhao
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  4. Qiong Han
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  5. Yu Li
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  6. Yi Liu
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  7. Kunlin Zeng
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Correspondence to Tongqing Zhang.

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Zhang, R., Zhang, T., Zhao, C. et al. A novel Z-scheme Bi2WO6-based photocatalyst with enhanced dye degradation activity. J Nanopart Res 21, 203 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-019-4652-9

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