Hydrothermal synthesis of nanosized bismuth niobate and enhanced photocatalytic activity by coupling of graphene sheets

摘要

A nanosized bismuth niobate (Bi5Nb3O_(15)) has been firstly synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method, and was successfully self-assembled onto graphene sheets. The novel nanosized Bi5Nb3O_(15) showed higher photocatalytic decolorization of rhodamine B (Rh.B) under visible light compared to Degussa P25 and bulk BiNbO4 due to short diffuse length of electrons and efficient visible light harvesting. Interestingly, the photocatalytic activity of Bi5Nb3O_(15) photocatalyst could be further enhanced by coupling with graphene sheet in terms of enhanced surface affinity and prolonged electron lifetime. Moreover, the Bi5Nb3O_(15)/graphene does not show deactivation for decolorization of Rh.B and photo-corrosion within five time cycles, indicating that the novel photocatalyst can be utilized to cleanup of environment.