Controlled preparation of magnetically separable BiOBr/BiFeO3 heterostructures by chemical etching process with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activities and anti-photocorrosion.

Novel magnetically separable BiOBr/BiFeO3 heterostructures were fabricated via a facile in situ hydrothermal chemical etching process using cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sulphuric acid as etching agents to react with BiFeO3 particles. The effects of solution pH and CTAB amount on the structure, morphology, and optical properties of the as-prepared samples were investigated. It was found that the best acidity of solution is pH = 3.0 for the formation of BiOBr/BiFeO3 heterostructures from BiFeO3 powder. Their photocatalytic activities and anti-photocorrosion behaviour were measured by the photocatalytical reduction of heavy metal ion Cr (VI) under visible-light irradiation. Experimental results show that the molar ratio of BiOBr to BiFeO3 contributed to different morphologies and photocatalytic activities of BiOBr/BiFeO3 composites. The optimised molar ratio in BiOBr/BiFeO3 composites was found to be 1:1. The photocatalytic reduction rate of Cr(VI) over 1:1 BiOBr/BiFeO3 composites was found to be 4.9 and 3.0 times higher than that of pure BiFeO3 and BiOBr, respectively. The hybridisation of BiOBr with BiFeO3 can markedly inhibit the photocorrosion of semiconductor BiFeO3. No obvious catalytic activity decrement can be found after five consecutive photocatalytic Cr (VI) reduction, which demonstrates the high structural stability of 1:1 BiOBr/BiFeO3. Furthermore, a possible photogenerated charge transfer process was proposed. The obviously enhanced photocatalytic activity could be ascribed to the formation of BiOBr-BiFeO3 heterojunction, accelerating the effective separation of photoexcited electron−hole pairs. This study suggests that the magnetically separable BiOBr/BiFeO3 heterostructures can be a promising photocatalyst for environment-related applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]