Construction of C-60-decorated SWCNTs (C-60-CNTs)/bismuth-based oxide ternary heterostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

摘要

Novel nanostructured carbon/BiVO4 and nanostructured carbon/Bi2MoO6 nanocomposite photocatalysts were fabricated via a facile hydrothermal process by using fullerene (C-60)-decorated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as the carbon source, which are denoted as C-60-CNTs. The fabricated nanocomposites were characterized by various analytical techniques. The results showed that the C-60-CNTs are intimately bound to the bismuth-based oxide surfaces. The UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra of C-60-CNTs/bismuth-based oxide nanocomposites exhibited increased visible-light absorption compared to pure bismuth-based oxides. Moreover, the ternary nanocomposites demonstrated significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B (Rh B) under visible light. The enhanced performance is attributed to the extended absorption in the visible-light region resulting from the incorporation of C-60-CNTs, high specific surface area, and efficient separation of electron-hole pairs by the ternary composite system. In addition, the radical-trapping experiments revealed that the holes and O-2(center dot-) play major roles in the decolorization of Rh B under visible-light irradiation.