Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction nanofibers: Enhanced photocatalytic activity, charge separation mechanism and magnetic separability

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 529; pp. 404 - 414
• Main Authors: Tao, Ran, Shao, Changlu, Li, Xinghua, Li, Xiaowei, Liu, Shuai, Yang, Shu, Zhao, Chengcheng, Liu, Yichun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-11-2018
• Subjects: Magnetic separability; Nanofibers; Visible-light photocatalysis; Z-scheme Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction; Nanofibers; Z-scheme Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction; Visible-light photocatalysis; Magnetic separability
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.06.035

[Display omitted]
Uniform Bi2MoO6 nanosheets were grown in a high dispersed fashion on electrospun BiFeO3 nanofibers via a solvothermal technique. The loading amount of Bi2MoO6 in the Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction nanofibers could be controlled by adjusting the precursor concentrations in the solvothermal process. The XPS analysis, energy band position calculation and trapping experiments all proved that the Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction is a Z-scheme heterojunction. The Z-scheme Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction had a much higher photocatalytic activity in the visible-light photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) than pure BiFeO3 nanofibers or pure Bi2MoO6 nanosheets. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was attributed to the formation of Z-scheme Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunctions, which could be beneficial to the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction nanofibers could be easily separated under an external magnetic field via the ferromagnetic BiFeO3. After several cycles, the photocatalytic activity of the Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction no longer significantly decreased suggesting that the Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction is stable. These Z-scheme Bi2MoO6/BiFeO3 heterojunction nanofibers with highly visible-light photocatalytic activity, excellent chemical stability and magnetic separability could be useful in many practical applications.