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Construction of novel Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity

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Abstract

In this work, novel Cu2O/PbBiO2Br heterojunction composites have been successfully prepared by hydrothermal method and oxidation–reduction process. The structure, morphology, optical and electronic properties of the as-prepared photocatalysts were investigated by various techniques. It is demonstrated that PbBiO2Br appears a smooth brick-like nanostructure and the average size is about 20–110 nm. The PbBiO2Br nano-bricks are dispersed on the surface of Cu2O particles to form Cu2O/PbBiO2Br p-n heterostructures. Compared with pure PbBiO2Br and Cu2O, the Cu2O/PbBiO2Br heterojunction composites exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performances for the degradation of crystal violet (CV) solution under visible-light irradiation. In particular, the 5%Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composite shows the optimal photocatalytic performance, and the degradation efficiency of CV reaches 96% in 50 min. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of the Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composites can be attributed to the significantly enhanced absorption in the visible range and efficient separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs due to the formation of Cu2O/PbBiO2Br p-n heterostructures. Furthermore, the radical trapping experiments indicate that \(\cdot {\text{O}}_{2}^{ - }\) radicals and holes are the main active species during the decomposition process. Based on the experimental results and analyses, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of the Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composites is proposed. This study reveals that the Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composite photocatalysts could be applied in the wastewater purification.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20181043) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Jiangsu University of Technology (KYY17011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, 213001, China

    Yongmei Xia & Kejun Hu

  2. Huaide School, Changzhou University, Jingjiang, 214500, China

    Zuming He & Jiangbin Su

  3. School of Mathematics & Physics, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China

    Zuming He & Jiangbin Su

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  1. Yongmei Xia
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Correspondence to Zuming He or Jiangbin Su.

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Xia, Y., He, Z., Su, J. et al. Construction of novel Cu2O/PbBiO2Br composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 30, 9843–9854 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-01321-0

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