Plasma enhanced Bi/Bi2O2CO3 heterojunction photocatalyst via a novel in-situ method

This paper presented the plasmonic Bi in-situ deposited on the surface of Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanoplates forming plasma enhanced Bi/Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 heterojunction photocatalyst through a facile one-pot solvothermal method by using methanol as both solvent and carbon source. The water splitting efficiency of the as-prepared Bi/Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 heterojunction photocatalyst was much better than that of pure phase Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 due to the Bi nanoparticles surface plasma resonance (SPR) effect for promoting light response and the charge carriers separation and transfer. The experimental results also showed that the H 2 O played an important role in the fabrication of Bi/Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 heterojunction photocatalyst, furthermore, the content of Bi in Bi/Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 changed with the variation of additional H 2 O which impacted photocatalytic activities . The method of semimetal in-situ deposition without reductants in this work also provided new perspectives into the rational design and facile synthesis of bismuth based semiconductor photocatalysts.