Preparation and characterization of novel CuBi2O4/SnO2 p–n heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic performance under UVA light irradiation

By E. Abdelkader, L. Nadjia, B. Ahmed. 2015

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Abstract A novel p-CuBi 2 O 4 /n-SnO 2 heterostructure photocatalyst with different mass ratios was synthesized by the solid state technique, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activities of p-CuBi 2 O 4 /n-SnO 2 photocatalysts were assessed based on the photodegradation of Congo red (CR) dye as a probe reaction under UVA (365 nm) light irradiation. Experimental results showed that the phase composition, surface morphology of particles, and optical absorption of the sample were found to vary significantly with the mass ratios and pH medium. The p-CuBi 2 O 4 /n-SnO 2 photocatalyst exhibited higher photocatalytic performance as compared with CuBi 2 O 4 and SnO 2 . The photodegradation reactions were satisfactory correlated with the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The optimum amount of doped CuBi 2 O 4 was 5 wt% as a result of 58.06% of photoactivity of CR within 100 min under UVA light at pH = 8 and 25 °C, which is about 2 times higher than that of pure SnO 2 . On the basis of the calculated energy band positions and the active species during photocatalytic process, the mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic activity was discussed by solid state z-scheme photocatalysis system.

Subfields: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ba243c3d14b0dcbe0b9562900ab95c713c976d41