Efficient Separation of Photogenerated Charges in Sandwiched Bi2S3−BiOCl Nanoarrays/BiVO4 Nanosheets Composites for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Graphical Photocatalysis : The sandwiched Bi 2 S 3 −BiOCl/BiVO 4 composites were fabricated and exhibited better photocatalytic performance than single BiVO 4 and binary Bi 2 S 3 /BiVO 4 composites due to the accelerated photogenerated charge transfer and separation, abundant exposed active sites, and enhanced visible light absorption. The development of cost-efficient and feasible strategies for producing efficient photocatalysts is crucial to advance photocatalytic pollutants degradation. Herein, we report a high photocatalytic active hierarchical sandwiched Bi 2 S 3 −BiOCl nanoarrays/BiVO 4 nanosheets composites fabricated using biomass-derived BiVO 4 porous nanosheets as starting substrate material. BiVO 4 porous nanosheets were first prepared via an impregnation-calcination process using biomass template method. Subsequently, the ion exchange reactions during solvothermal reaction realized the in situ nucleation and growth of Bi 2 S 3 nanorods and BiOCl nanoflakes nanoarrays from both sides of BiVO 4 porous nanosheets, resulting in the formation of hierarchical sandwiched Bi 2 S 3 −BiOCl nanoarrays/BiVO 4 nanosheets composites. Specifically, well-defined Bi 2 S 3 nanorods and BiOCl nanoflakes nanoarrays are vertically grown on the surface of BiVO 4 nanosheets to provide plenty of accessible active sites and enable visible light harvesting. The tight contact between different components promises fast electron transfer and excellent durability. Consequently, optimized sandwiched Bi 2 S 3 −BiOCl/BiVO 4 composite exhibits superior photocatalytic activity for pollutants degradation.