BN nanosheets modified WO3 photocatalysts for enhancing photocatalytic properties under visible light irradiation

• The photocatalytic activity and stability of WO3 could be enhanced by introduction of few-layer BN.
• The synergetic effect of few-layer BN and WO3 could be beneficial for increasing photocatalytic activity.
• The photocatalytic activity of BN/WO3 (5 wt%) is far superior to that of TiO2.

The BN/WO3 hybrid materials were synthesized by the calcined method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT–IR). The photocatalytic activity of BN/WO3 hybrid materials was evaluated using Rhodamine B (RhB) as the target organic pollutant. The research results showed that the composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the pure WO3, and a small amount of BN was beneficial for photogenerated electron and hole separation, which could enhance the photoactivity of BN/WO3. Based on the experimental results, a possible visible-light photocatalytic degradation mechanism was also proposed and discussed.