Synthesis of a CoTiO3/BiOBr heterojunction composite with enhanced photocatalytic performance

A novel heterojunction CoTiO3/BiOBr nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic performance was synthesized by a precipitation-deposition method. The samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis spectrophotometry. Moreover, the photocatalytic activities were evaluated by decomposing the dye molecule Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The results showed that high photocatalytic performance can be achieved on the heterojunction photocatalysts, with the 0.15CoTiO3/0.85BiOBr composite displaying the highest activity. The results of the study concluded that it was the introduction of CoTiO3 into the catalyst that mainly enhanced the activity of the photocatalyst by promoting the separation of the electron-hole group on the interface between BiOBr and CoTiO3.