Preparation, structure and photo-catalytic performances of hybrid Bi2SiO5 modified Si nanowire arrays

► Bi2SiO5 modified Si nanowire array films were fabricated via dip-coating Bi(NO3)3 on electroless-etched Si nanowires and subsequently annealing. ► About 42.2% and 74.8% of methyl orange molecules were degraded in the first 30 min and 5 h with the aid of the hybrid Bi2SiO5 modified Si nanowire arrays, respectively. ► The hybrid Bi2SiO5 modified Si array structures are proposed to be resulted in the improvement for efficient electron-hole separation and photo-catalytic stability, thereby possessing superior photo-degradation performance.