Synthesis, characterization and photoreactivity of hierarchically N-doped (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 with highly exposed {001} facets

• Introducing l-cysteine tunes growth of (BiO)2CO3 crystal along the [110] orientation.
• Rose-like hierarchical (BiO)2CO3 with highly exposed (001) facets assembled by l-cysteine
• Formation of N-doping and (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 heterostructures by introducing l-cysteine
• The N-doped (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 heterostructures possess improving visible-light activity.

The purpose of this paper is to develop hierarchically N-doped (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 heterostructures with highly exposed {001} facets. l-cysteine was used as both the capping agent and soft template to assemble hierarchically (BiO)2CO3 architectures with highly exposed {001} facets through a facile hydrothermal process. Rose-like (BiO)2CO3 architectures could be easily obtained by tuning the l-cysteine concentration. Introducing l-cysteine can inhibit the growth in [001] orientation and subsequently cause the preferential growth in [110] or [11̅0] orientation, which can significantly enhance the percentage of exposed {001} facets in (BiO)2CO3. Results showed that the introduction of l-cysteine successfully realizes N doping and construction of (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 heterostructures, which narrows band gap, significantly enhances the optical absorption and reduces the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. The as-obtained hierarchically N-doped (BiO)2CO3/Bi2S3 photocatalysts show superior photocatalytic activity and excellent stability for degradation of reactive brilliant blue (KN-R) under sunlight irradiation.

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