One-pot synthesis of novel flower-like BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI heterojunction with largely enhanced electron-hole separation efficiency and photocatalytic performances

•Novel BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI photocatalyst were provided for the first time.•BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI displays enhanced activity for organic pollutants removal.•The coupling effect of ion doping and heterojunction was proposed.•O2− and h+ were the dominant reactive species in phtocatalytic process.

A novel flower-like BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI heterostructure was fabricated by a simple one-pot method at room temperature. Under visible light (λ > 400 nm), the as-prepared BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI photocatalysts with different BiOBr0.9I0.1 contents exhibited a notably enhanced degrading efficiency for methyl orange and phenol solutions, among which 10% BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The activity improvement of BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI could be ascribed to the synergetic effects of ion doping and heterostructure. On the basis of the Mott-Schottky analysis, a new I− ion doping energy level formed on top of the valence band of BiOBr strengthened the visible light absorption. Moreover, the heterojunction interface of BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI efficiently reduced the recombination of electron-hole pairs. This study reveals that the coupling of ion doping and heterojunction structure played significant synergetic effects on the highly efficient generation and separation of photo-generated carriers.

Graphical abstractNovel flower-like BiOBr0.9I0.1/BiOI heterostructures exhibited notably enhanced photocatalytic performance in decomposing methyl orange and phenol under visible light (λ > 400 nm), owing to the coupling effect of ion doping and heterojunction structure for the highly efficient generation and separation of photo-generated carriers.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (179 K)Download as PowerPoint slide