Graphene-Bi24O31Br10 composites with tunable architectures for enhanced photocatalytic activity and mechanism

Novel graphene-Bi24O31Br10 (GR-BOB) composites were successfully synthesized via a simple solvothermal process for the first time. Bi24O31Br10 nanosheets were observed to be tightly coupled with GR, and their hierarchical architectures could be freely adjusted from 3D to 2D by simply controlling the amount of graphene oxide. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared samples was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under the visible light irradiation. All GR-BOB composites exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity, and 1.0%GR-BOB sample displayed the highest degradation efficiency, which was 2.3 times higher than that of pristine Bi24O31Br10. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the enhanced light harvesting and effective separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers. GR-BOB composites also showed decent photochemical stability and recyclability, which is of especial importance for its practical applications. This work not only provided a novel functional material for environmental purification, but also a principle method to produce GR-contained composites with tight coupling in interfaces.