Fabrication of Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3 upconversion luminescence enhanced 3C-SiC composites as highly UV-Vis-NIR light responsive photocatalysts

New UV-Vis-NIR light responsive Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3-SiC composites are designed by coupling different structured Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3 upconversion luminescence materials (UCLMs) with 3C-SiC ultrafine nanocrystals (NCs) and explored as an efficient photocatalytic material. The Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3 UCLMs can convert near-infrared (NIR) light into visible light which can be absorbed by 3C-SiC NCs, thus extend the optical responsive range of the photocatalysts to NIR light region. The structure effect of UCLMs on their upconversion luminescence performance is explored, indicating that the chain-like Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3 UCLMs display much more preferable luminescence activity than flake-like structure. Compared with pure 3C-SiC NCs, both the two hybrid structures offer excellent performance in catalyzing decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under illumination of NIR light as well as UV-Vis-NIR light. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of chain-like Er/Tm/Yb/Y2O3-SiC composites is better than that of the flake-like composites, profiting from the high light absorption efficiency induced by the multiple reflection-absorption effect. It is anticipated that this work provides new insights into the fabrication of photocatalysts with excellent light responses to a broader spectral range.