Dramatic improvement of photocatalytic activity for N-doped Bi2O3/g-C3N4 composites.

N-doped Bi 2 O 3 /g-C 3 N 4 composite photocatalysts were prepared via a cost-effective and eco-friendly ultrasonic dispersion method. It was shown that N-doped Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticles have been perfectly coated by thin g-C 3 N 4 layers. Under visible-light irradiation, the optimum photocatalytic activity of the composite with 66.7 wt% of g-C 3 N 4 is almost 4.6 times as high as that of pure g-C 3 N 4 and 8.2 times of Bi 2 O 3 , and the RhB degradation efficiency can reach 94.4% in 15 min. The dramatically improved performance of the composite can be attributed to an enhancement of visible-light absorption and a synergistic effect of N-doped Bi 2 O 3 nanoparticles and g-C 3 N 4 coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]