Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of a novel FeIn2S4 microspheres/BiOBr nanoplates heterojunction with a Z-scheme configuration

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1760032/v1

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Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of a novel FeIn2S4 microspheres/BiOBr nanoplates heterojunction with a Z-scheme configuration

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1760032/v1

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The rational design of heterojunction photocatalysts is an effective way to improve semiconductor photocatalytic activity. The simple solvothermal method was used to successfully prepare visible light-driven FeIn₂S₄ microspheres/BiOBr nanoplates binary heterojunction photocatalysts with varying FeIn₂S₄ contents. The crystal structure, morphology, surface composition, specific surface area, charge separation and optical properties of the as-prepared photocatalysts were investigated using a variety of analytical methods. In the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B, the FeIn₂S₄/BiOBr photocatalysts obtained a degradation efficiency of 96% within 60 min, which was approximately 5.33 and 2.59 times higher than pure FeIn₂S₄ and BiOBr, respectively. Radical trapping experiments and ESR measurements revealed the main active species (·OH, ·O₂⁻, and h⁺) produced during photocatalytic degradation. The increased photocatalytic activity was due to the formation of Z-scheme heterojunctions between FeIn₂S₄ and BiOBr, which contributed to the improved effective charge separation of photogenerated charge carriers, augmented specific surface area and enhanced redox capacity. It is expected that our current study will provide a hopeful way for future environmental remediation research.

FeIn2S4

BiOBr

Z-scheme

Photocatalysis

Electron-hole pairs

Visible light.

Energy crisis and environmental pollution are two of the most pressing issues of human beings today(Chen et al. 2019a, Cui et al. 2018, Zhang et al. 2015). Low concentrations of highly toxic and non-biodegradable organic pollutants (such as dyes, antibiotics, pesticides, and so on) have seriously been harmful to human health(Sun et al. 2020, Wang et al. 2019, Yin et al. 2021a). Among these, Rhodamine B (Rh B), a common xanthene dye in industry and widely used as a coloring agent in textiles and food, poses a severe hazard not only to aquatic life, plants, and animals, but also to human beings(Liu et al. 2019, Su et al. 2013, Wang et al. 2020). Hence, there is an urgent need for an effective and environmentally friendly method of dealing with the contaminants. Since Japanese scientists Fujishima and Honda had used TiO₂ as a photoelectrode for the decomposition of water for hydrogen production in 1972(Fujishima &Honda 1972), photocatalysis (based on the photoexcitation of electrons and holes from semiconductors under light irradiation to stimulate oxidation reduction reactions) has been regarded as one of the green strategies for dealing with environmental pollution problems(He et al. 2014). However, the limited absorption and utilization of sunlight make TiO₂ unsuitable for environmental remediation(Ya et al. 2014). As a result, an urgent need is required to investigate photocatalysts with efficient visible light response activity.

In the search for high-efficiency visible light-driven photocatalysts, ternary metal sulphides (including ZnIn₂S₄, MnIn₂S₄, CdIn₂S₄, FeIn₂S₄, etc) with narrow band gaps and appropriate energy band edge positions have stimulated the interest of many researchers due to their excellent photocatalytic performance in environmental remediation (organic pollutant degradation(Guo et al. 2019), heavy metal ion reduction(Li et al. 2020a), etc.) and energy (including photocatalytic hydrogen evolution(Song et al. 2021), CO₂ reduction(Li et al. 2020b), etc.). Among them, with a suitable energy band edge and strong optical absorption, FeIn₂S₄ is expected to be a visible light-driven photocatalyst. However, due to higher photogenerated hole and electron recombination and severe photo-corrosion(Yin et al. 2021b), pure FeIn₂S₄ exhibits suboptimal photocatalytic performance. In order to achieve efficient photocatalytic activity, researchers have recently focused on the construction of Z-scheme MIn₂S₄(M = Zn, Mn, Fe, Cd, etc) heterojunctions, which not only have well-matched energy band structures but also facilitate in the efficient separation of photogenerated charge carriers and alleviate photocorrosion during photocatalysis(Zhang et al. 2021b). Pei et al. described a hydrothermal method to prepare a visible light-driven WO₃/CdIn₂S₄ composite Z-scheme photocatalyst with excellent photocatalytic activity and effective charge separation(Pei et al. 2021). Hao(Hao et al. 2021) et al. constructed an efficient Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst compound of CeO₂ nanoparticles and ZnIn₂S₄ microspheres. The construction of Z-scheme heterojunctions improves the separation rate and redox ability of photoexcited electrons and holes.

Bismuth bromide oxide (BiOBr), as a typical visible light-driven Bi-based semiconductor, has stimulated the interest of researchers due to its excellent physical and chemical stability, non-toxicity, suitable band gap and excellent photocatalytic properties(Liu et al. 2014, Ren et al. 2020, Sharma et al. 2019). Furthermore, BiOBr has good electronic conductivity due to the unique laminar structure of interlaced [Bi₂O₂]²⁺ plates and bilayers of Br ions(Ye et al. 2014, Zhang &Ma 2017). Despite the low conduction band position, BiOBr has a sufficiently high valence band potential to produce holes and reactive oxygen species with high oxidation capacity(Qiu et al. 2017). Hence, BiOBr can be used as a composite photocatalyst for the preparation of Z-scheme heterojunctions. Recently, a number of researchers have used BiOBr with other semiconductors to form Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. Such as, Senasu et al. reported the prepared CdS/BiOBr Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts exhibited efficient performance in degrading antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin) in water (Senasu et al. 2021). Yu et al. used a facile in-situ oxidation method to synthesis Z-scheme BiOBr/g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts, which demonstrated superior photocatalytic properties and charge separation(Liang et al. 2021). The results revealed that all of these composites photocatalysts exhibited significantly improved photocatalytic performance compared to the pure semiconductor, which is ascribed to the Z-scheme transfer pattern.

Based on the excitation mentioned above, the strong reduction ability of photogenerated electrons on the conduction band (CB) of FeIn₂S₄ and the high oxidation ability of photogenerated holes on the valence band (VB) of BiOBr can be used to design Z-scheme FeIn₂S₄/BiOBr heterojunction photocatalysts. In this paper, we used a simple two-step solvothermal method to successfully prepare a Z-scheme FeIn₂S₄/BiOBr hybrid photocatalyst. The close contact of FeIn₂S₄ nanosheets to BiOBr nanosheets facilitates electron transfer. Photocatalytic degradation of Rh B in water was used to assess the photocatalytic activity of as-prepared photocatalysts. The influence of FeIn₂S₄ on the morphology, light absorption, and photocatalytic activity of BiOBr was studied. Finally, a direct Z-scheme degradation mechanism is proposed to interpret the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of the FeIn₂S₄/BiOBr binary photocatalytic system based on the analysis of the energy band structure and hydroxyl radicals.

2.1. Photocatalyst synthesis

2.1.1 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ (FIS) microspheres

Pure FIS microspheres synthesized based on previous literature(Chen et al. 2005). Typically. 1 mmol of FeCl₃·6H₂O, 2 mmol of InCl₃·4H₂O and 8 mmol of thiourea were added to 50 mL of deionized water. The mixture was stirred vigorously for 1 h, then transferred to a 100 mL autoclave and reacted at 180 ℃ for 12 h, and cooled to temperature naturally. The product was washed with water and absolute ethanol by centrifugation for several times, and dried at 50 ℃ for 12 h.

2.1.2 Preparation of BiOBr nanoplate

BiOBr nanoplate was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method(Zhang et al. 2019). Briefly, 4.84g of Bi(NO₃)·5H₂O was added to 20 mL of ethylene glycol, and then ultrasonically stirred for 20 min. At room temperature, 30 mL of 1M KBr solution was added dropwise to the above solution and stirred for 30 min later. The mixture was transferred into a 100 mL autoclave and reacted at 160 ℃ for 12h. After it was naturally cooled to room temperature, the product was centrifuged and washed for 3 times with deionized water and absolute ethanol, and vacuum-dried at 60 ℃ for 12 h.

2.1.3 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ microspheres /BiOBr nanoplates

The simple solvothermal method was used to prepare visible light-driven FeIn₂S₄ microspheres /BiOBr nanoplates photocatalysts. In a standard experimental procedure, A: 0.005 g (0.010 g, 0.040 g, 0.080 g) of FeIn₂S₄ and 1.940 g of Bi(NO₃)·5H₂O were added into 20 mL of ethylene glycol, and ultrasonically disperse for 20 min. B: 0.595 g of KBr was dissolved in 40 mL of deionized water, then B was added into A, stirring for 30 min. The mixture was transferred to a 100 mL autoclave reacted at 160 ℃ for 12 h, and cooled to room temperature naturally. The product was centrifuged and washed by ionized water and absolute ethanol for 5 times, and the catalyst was obtained by vacuum drying at 60 ℃ for 12 h. The final product was named as FIS5/BiOBr, FIS10/BiOBr, FIS40/BiOBr and FIS80/BiOBr.

2.2. Characterization

MiniFlex 600 (Rigaku, Japan) X-ray diffractometer (XRD) with Cu Kα radiation (λ = 0.15406 nm, 40 kV, 100 mA) was used to analyze the crystalline phase of catalysts. The morphology of catalysts was measured by a XL30 ESEM FEG scanning electron microscope (SEM, USA) at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. The morphologies and lattice fringes of the catalysts were studied by FEI Talos F200x (TEM amd HRTEM, USA). Mapping and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were recorded by FEI Talos F200x (TEM). UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) of the samples were detected by Shimadzu UV3600 plus (Japan). Chemical composition and element states of the materials were recorded by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Thermo Fischer, Escalab Xi+, USA). The surface area and pore size of the samples were studied by instrumental Kubo X1000. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra were measured using a Horiba-FluoroMax fluorescence spectrophotometer (Japan). The hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals produced by the material during photocatalysis were detected using the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) (Bruker E500, Germany).

2.3. Photocatalytic degradation experiment

The photocatalytic performance of the catalyst was evaluated by degrading RhB in an aqueous solution. 20 mg of photocatalyst was dispersed 100 mL of RhB solution (20 mg/L) and stirred in the dark for 30 minutes to achieve a dissolution-adsorption equilibrium, and then exposed to visible light (50 W light-emitting diode (LED) array) (400 nm < λ < 800 nm) (Fig. S1). Every 10 min, 4 mL of the suspension was taken out and centrifuged to separate the catalyst from the suspension. The concentration of RhB was analyzed by UV-2450 (SHIMADZU, Japan) at 554 nm.

3.1 Crystal structure

Figure 1 depicts the XRD patterns of the prepared catalyst materials. Pure FeIn₂S₄ (FIS) has a cubic phase crystal structure, which agrees well with the standard card (JCPDS No. 80–0608)(Shangguan et al. 2021), and pure BiOBr has a tetragonal phase crystal structure (JCPSDS09-0393)(Ren et al. 2019). The XRD diffraction peaks of FIS/BiOBr composites are essentially the same as those of pure BiOBr due to the uniformly dispersion of FIS on BiOBr nanosheets at lower FIS concentrations (Shangguan et al. 2021). As the FIS content increases, the (111) diffraction peak of FIS becomes prominent and shows a slight shift towards higher diffraction angles, indicating a strong interaction between FIS and BiOBr(Jiang et al. 2017).

3.2 Morphology and microstructure analysis

The surface morphology and microstructure of the samples were investigated by SEM and TEM analysis. The morphology of the FIS depicts a large number of microsphere-like structure in Fig. 2a, which is formed by the self-assemble of small nanoscale flakes (Fig. 2b). The pure BiOBr displays irregular thin layered microplates (Fig. 2c). As shown in Fig. 2d, the FIS10/BiOBr exhibits tightly layered nanosheets structure, which is necessary for an efficient charge transfer in heterojunction system(Wangkawong et al. 2020). The TEM image of FIS10/BiOBr in Fig. 3a shows the stack structure of nanoplates, which is consistent with SEM images. In the HRTEM image (Fig. 3b), the distinct lattice plane are 0.23 nm and 0.32 nm, corresponding to the (112) plane of BiOBr and (311) plane of FIS, respectively. In Fig. 3c, the element distributions reveal the coexistence of Fe, In, S, Bi, O and Br in FIS10/BiOBr nanocomposites. The aforementioned results demonstrate the success synthesis of FIS/BiOBr composite, which promotes the creation of heterojunction interfaces(Zhao et al. 2021).

3.3 XPS analysis

The surface chemical compositions and states of FIS, BiOBr and FIS10/BiOBr heterojunction were detected by XPS. The XPS survey spectrum of FIS10/BiOBr in Fig. S2 suggests Fe, In, S, Bi, O and Br are six components, which is in good agreement with element mapping results. The high-resolution XPS spectra of the sample is shown in Fig. 4. The Bi 4f spectrum of the FIS10/BiOBr composite in Fig. 4a shows two characteristic peaks at 159.3eV (Bi 4f 7/2) and 164.5 eV (Bi 4f 5/2), which proves Bi³⁺ oxidation state(Ye et al. 2015). The O 1s peaks of FIS10/BiOBr composite in Fig. 4b locates at 530.1 and 532.8 eV, corresponding to the Bi–O and Br–O bonds, respectively(Zhang &Ma 2017). The asymmetric Br 3d peaks at 68.4 eV, 69.5 eV in Fig. 4c suggest the exist of Br^-(Ren et al. 2019). For Fe 2p spectrum in Fig. 4d, the deconvoluted peaks at 705.3 eV and 727.2.4 eV are from Fe 2p 3/2 and Fe 2p 1/2, respectively, indicating that the valence of Fe is positive 2. The binding energies at 442.5 eV, and 453.1 eV in Fig. 4e correspond to In 3d 5/2 and In 3d 3/2 of In³⁺, respectively(Chachvalvutikul et al. 2021). In Fig. 4f, two peaks at 161.4 eV and 162.8 eV for the S 2p spectrum of FIS10/BiOBr correspond to S 2p 3/2 and S 2p 1/2, respectively, implying the existence of S^2-(Yang et al. 2020). Compared with those of pure FIS and BiOBr, the binding energies of Bi 4f, O 1s, Br 3d, Fe2p, In3d, and S2p of FIS10/BiOBr composite exhibit a slight change, revealing an intense electronic interaction between FIS and BiOBr components(Jiang et al. 2015), further suggesting the forming of the FIS/BiOBr heterojunction photocatalyst.

3.4 BET analysis

The N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms of FIS, BiOBr, and FIS10/BiOBr samples were shown in Fig. S3, and the related specific areas and pore parameters are provided in Table 1. As shown in Table 1, the specific surface areas of FIS, BiOBr, and FIS10/BiOBr measured by BET are 17.88, 2.03 and 15.67 m² /g, respectively, and the average pore size of FIS, BiOBr and FIS10/BiOBr are 5.50, 5.72, and 10.11 nm, respectively. Compared to BiOBr, larger surface area of FIS10/BiOBr could offer a more efficient transport pathway and more reaction sites for the reactants in the photocatalytic reaction process(Jiang et al. 2020), resulting in the efficient photocatalytic property. Nevertheless, specific surface area is only one of several factors that influence photocatalytic performance(Jia et al. 2016). The large average pore size and large pore volume conducive to the entry of reactant molecules into the inner surface of the material and more sufficient contact with the catalyst.

Table 1

BET analysis of photocatalysts.
Photocatalyst	Specific area (m²/g)	Pore volume (cm³/g)	Average pore size (nm)
FIS	17.88	0.12079	5.50
BiOBr	2.03	0.105552	5.72
FIS10/BiOBr	15.67	0.216924	10.11

3.5 Photocatalytic performance

The degradation of Rh B under visible light was used to test the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst. The Rh B degradation efficiency for pure FIS and BiOBr in Fig. 5a are 18% and 37% within 60 min, respectively, while for FIS10/BiOBr, the degradation efficiency of Rh B grows to 96%. The first-order model (ln(C₀/C) = kt) was used to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation kinetics. The kinetic constants of FIS, BiOBr, FIS5/BiOBr, FIS10/BiOBr, FIS40/BiOBr, and FIS80/BiOBr in Fig. 5b are 0.00255, 0.00718, 0.04186, 0.05519, 0.03488 and 0.02217 min^− 1, respectively. The k-value of the FIS10/BiOBr is 21.64 and 7.59 times greater than those of pure FIS and BiOBr, respectively. These results suggest that the complexing of FIS and BiOBr can significantly enhance the photocatalytic property due to the promoted contact and charge transfer between the two semiconductor components(Chen et al. 2021). Table S1 lists the degradation efficiency of Rh B with reported and our Bi-based semiconductor Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. Our photocatalysts shows higher photocatalytic activity under low-power light source within short time and with less amount of catalyst in the degradation of Rh B, representing a powerful potential in the environmental remediation.

The stability and durability of FIS10/BIOBr were also investigated through the cycling test. In Fig. 6a, the efficiency of Rh B degradation by FIS10/BIOBr decreased slightly from 97–88% after three cycles of photocatalysis. The possible reason is the absorption of some small organic molecules in the pores of FIS10/BIOBr before and after the cycle, which also led to a slight change of XRD patterns before and after the cycle (Fig. 6b).

3.6 Optical properties

The efficient light absorption capacity is an important factor influencing the photocatalytic activity(Zhang et al. 2021a). Figure 7a shows the UV-Vis DRS adsorption spectra of pure FIS, BiOBr and FIS10/BiOBr heterojunction. Due to the narrow band shape, pure FIS adsorbs strongly from UV to visible light. FIS10/BiOBr exhibits a significant redshift enhancement compared to pure BiOBr, which has an absorption edge of 440 nm. The findings show that coupling FIS and BiOBr can effectively improve FIS/ BiOBr's light absorption, thereby improving photocatalytic performance. According to the Kubelka-Munk equation(Meng et al. 2015), the bandgap energies of pure FIS and BiOBr are calculated to be 1.62 and 2.68 eV, respectively (Fig. 7b).

Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to assess the photogenerated electron and hole recombination rates of the prepared photocatalysts. Lower photoluminescence intensities, in general, indicate better separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs(Chen et al. 2019b). That is, the lower the PL spectrum intensity, the better the photocatalytic performance. The PL intensity of FIS10/BiOBr in Fig. 8 is significantly lower than that of FIS or BiOBr, indicating that the combination of FIS and BiOBr effectively enhances the separation of photogenerated electron hole pairs and improves photocatalytic performance.

3.7 Photocatalytic mechanism

XPS valence band spectra were used to characterize the VB positions of different photocatalysts in order to reveal the charge transfer mechanism of Z-scheme heterojunction FIS/BiOBr photocatalysts. The VB values of FIS and BiOBr are 1.14 and 2.67 eV, respectively, as shown in Fig. 9. The energy band widths of FIS and BiOBr are 1.62 and 2.68 eV, respectively, based on the UV-Vis DRS spectra (Fig. 7). According to the empirical equation E_g = E_VB - E_CB, the CB positions of FIS and BiOBr are − 0.48 and − 0.01 eV, respectively. Due to the energy band position relationship, FIS and BiOBr are fully equipped to construct Z-scheme heterojunction.

The main active species were identified using capture experiments of FIS10/BiOBr under the same conditions. In general, the CB and VB potentials of photocatalyst can have a direct impact on the production of active species during photodegradation(Wang et al. 2021). Tert-butanol (TBA), p-benzoquinone (BQ) and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-2Na) were used as trapping agents for hydroxyl radicals (·OH), superoxide radicals (·O₂⁻), and photogenerated holes (h⁺), respectively. The degradation of Rh B slightly reduces with the addition of TBA (Fig. 10a), indicating that ·OH is not the main active agent in the photocatalysis. While the degradation of RhB significantly reduces after the addition of BQ and EDTA-2Na, implying that ·O₂⁻ and h⁺ are the primary reactive agents affecting the degradation of RhB by FIS10/BiOBr. In order to further validate the free radicals generated in the photocatalytic reaction process, electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements were performed. We used 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) as free radical trapping agent to detect the active species of FIS10/BiOBr materials in the dark and under visible light irradiation. As shown in the Fig. 10b and 10c, there is no intensity signal under dark conditions, but four main characteristic peaks of DMPO-·O₂⁻ and ·OH are observed under the light radiation. These results indicate that the photocatalytic process generates free radicals ·O₂⁻ and ·OH, which agrees with the radical trapping experiments.

Based on the analysis and discussion of the aforementioned experimental results, the E_CB/E_VB values of FeIn₂S₄ and BiOBr are − 0.48/1.14 eV and − 0.01/2.67 eV (vs NHE), respectively, implying two plausible photocatalytic mechanisms: type II heterojunction and Z-heterojunction. If the heterojunction is a type II heterojunction (Fig. 11a), photogenerated electrons will be transported from the CB of FeIn₂S₄ to the CB of BiOBr, and no ·O₂⁻ will be produced since the CB position of BiOBr (-0.01 eV) is higher than the O²/·O₂⁻ (-0.33 eV)(Yin et al. 2021a) potential. Because the VB position of FeIn₂S₄ (1.14 eV) is lower than the OH⁻/·OH (1.99 eV)(Tang et al. 2020) potential, photogenerated holes will be transported from the VB of BiOBr to the VB of FeIn₂S₄ and no ·OH will be formed. This process contradicts the results of our radical trapping experiments and ESR. As for Z-scheme heterojunction (Fig. 11b), photogenerated electrons can migrate from the CB of BiOBr to the VB of FeIn₂S₄ across a tight heterogeneous interface in the Z-scheme structure and quench local photogenerated holes, leaving electrons in the CB of FeIn₂S₄ and holes in the VB of BiOBr. The CB position of FeIn₂S₄ is less than the potential required to generate ·O₂⁻ (-0.48 eV ˂ O²/·O₂⁻ 0.33 eV), while the VB position of BiOBr is greater than the potential required to generate ·OH (2.67 eV ˃ OH⁻/·OH 1.99 eV). Hence, the FIS10/BiOBr heterojunction can generate ·O₂⁻ and ·OH for effective Rh B degradation.

A novel microplate-like Z-Scheme FeIn₂S₄/BiOBr nanocomposite was easily synthesized by solvothermal method. This nanocomposite can efficiently degrade Rh B under visible light. FIS10/BiOBr posed the suitable ratio between FeIn₂S₄ microspheres and BiOBr nanosheets for the optimal photocatalytic activity owing to a well-matched energy band structure and fast charge separation based on a tight multiphase interface. The cyclic degradation of Rh B demonstrated the excellent stability of FIS10/BiOBr. Based on the trapping experiments, the main reactive radicals in the photocatalytic process were h⁺ and ·O₂⁻. A Z-scheme photocatalytic reaction mechanism was suitable for FIS/BiOBr binary heterojunction. This work lays out a straightforward path for building an artificial direct Z-scheme photocatalytic system.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51273034).

Funding

This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51273034).

Ethics approval We declare that all ethical guidelines for authors have been followed by all authors.

Consent to participate All authors have given their consent to Participate in submitting this manuscript to this journal.

Consent for publication All authors have given their consent to publish this paper in this journal.

Competing interests We declare no conflict of interest.

Availability of data and materials All materials and data which was generated or analyzed during this study were included in this article.

Authors Contributions

Zhang Biao: Methodology, Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing-Original draft,

Yu Liu: Writing - review & editing, Data curation, Validation.

Hongyu Zhu: Visualization, Investigation, Formal analysis.

Dongxu Gu: Software, Validation, Investigation.

Kanghong Zhou: Validation, Investigation, Data curation.

Jianyuan Hao: Resources, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

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Editorial decision: Major Revision
27 Jul, 2022
Reviewers agreed at journal
28 Jun, 2022
Reviewers invited by journal
28 Jun, 2022
Editor invited by journal
27 Jun, 2022
Editor assigned by journal
24 Jun, 2022
First submitted to journal
14 Jun, 2022

You are reading this latest preprint version

Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of a novel FeIn2S4 microspheres/BiOBr nanoplates heterojunction with a Z-scheme configuration

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

1. Introducdtion

2. Experimental Procedure

2.1. Photocatalyst synthesis

2.1.1 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ (FIS) microspheres

2.1.2 Preparation of BiOBr nanoplate

2.1.3 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ microspheres /BiOBr nanoplates

2.2. Characterization

2.3. Photocatalytic degradation experiment

3. Results And Discussion

3.1 Crystal structure

3.2 Morphology and microstructure analysis

3.3 XPS analysis

3.4 BET analysis

3.5 Photocatalytic performance

3.6 Optical properties

3.7 Photocatalytic mechanism

4. Conclusion

Declarations

References

Supplementary Files

Status:

Version 1

Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of a novel FeIn2S4 microspheres/BiOBr nanoplates heterojunction with a Z-scheme configuration

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

1. Introducdtion

2. Experimental Procedure

2.1. Photocatalyst synthesis

2.1.1 Preparation of FeIn2S4 (FIS) microspheres

2.1.2 Preparation of BiOBr nanoplate

2.1.3 Preparation of FeIn2S4 microspheres /BiOBr nanoplates

2.2. Characterization

2.3. Photocatalytic degradation experiment

3. Results And Discussion

3.1 Crystal structure

3.2 Morphology and microstructure analysis

3.3 XPS analysis

3.4 BET analysis

3.5 Photocatalytic performance

3.6 Optical properties

3.7 Photocatalytic mechanism

4. Conclusion

Declarations

References

Supplementary Files

Status:

Version 1

2.1.1 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ (FIS) microspheres

2.1.3 Preparation of FeIn₂S₄ microspheres /BiOBr nanoplates