Increasing visible-light absorption for photocatalysis with black 2D Bi4Ti3O12 nanosheets

In this work, a simple method to prepare defect two-dimension (2D) Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 nanosheets material by NaBH 4 reduction with Argon atmosphere was reported. The results of EPR and XPS demonstrated that the presence of oxygen vacancy in Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 , which resulted in color changed and extend photon-absorbance. By comparing to pristine Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 , the black Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 exhibited higher photocatalytic activity to pollutants. The mechanism was also proposed for exploring the defect in the photocatalytic process.