Fabricaion of improved novel p–n junction BiOI/Bi2Sn2O7 nanocomposite for visible light driven photocatalysis

• A p–n heterojunction photocatalyst BiOI/Bi2Sn2O7 was prepared by hydrothermal method.
• 4% BiOI/Bi2Sn2O7 with maximal photocatalytic degradation efficiency (RhB) of 99.9%.
• A specific degradation routes of RhB was illustrated.
• The photocatalytic mechanism is discussed according to p–n junction principles.
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• O2− and h+ are the main reactive species for the degradation of RhB.

A series of novel p−n junction photocatalysts BiOI/Bi2Sn2O7 (BiOI/BSO) were successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method. The phase structures, morphologies and optical properties of the as-prepared samples were studied by XRD, TEM, HRTEM, BET, XPS, UV–vis DRS and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The results showed that BiOI/BSO heteronanostructures displayed much higher photocatalytic activity than pure BSO and BiOI for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). The best photocatalytic activity of BiOI/BSO with almost 99.9% RhB degradation situated at molar percentage ratio of 4% after 6 h irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of BiOI/BSO could be mainly attributed to the formation of the heterojunction between p-BiOI and n-BSO, which effectively restrains the recombination of photoinduced electron–hole pairs. Moreover, the study of radical scavengers affirmed that h+ and
• O2− were the primary reactive species for the degradation of RhB.

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