Carbon-modified bismuth titanate with an enhanced photocatalytic activity under nature sunlight

A novel carbon-modified bismuth titanate Bi4Ti3O12 (C/BTO) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by a facile co-precipitation method. The resulted samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS), N2 adsorption-desorption and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). The photocatalytic activities of the samples were measured through the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under sunlight. Compared with commercial P25, the resulted C/BTO showed an excellent photocatalytic activity. The mechanism for the improved photocatalytic activity was finally proposed.