Improved visible light photocatalytic activity of sphere-like BiOBr hollow and porous structures synthesized via a reactable ionic liquid

Abstract

BiOBr uniform flower-like hollow microsphere and porous nanosphere structures have been successfully synthesized through a one-pot EG-assisted solvothermal process in the presence of reactable ionic liquid 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C₁₆mim]Br). The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Possible formation mechanism for the growth of hollow microspheres was discussed. During the reactive process, ionic liquid [C₁₆mim]Br played the role of solvent, reactant and template at the same time. Moreover, the photocatalytic activities of BiOBr flower-like hollow and porous structures were evaluated on the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The results assumed that BiOBr porous nanospheres sample showed much higher photocatalytic activity than the conventionally prepared sample and TiO₂ (Degussa, P25). The relationship between the structure of the photocatalyst and the photocatalytic activities were also discussed in detail; it can be assumed that the enhanced photocatalytic activities of BiOBr materials could be ascribed to a synergistic effect, including high BET surface area, the energy band structure, the smaller particle size and light absorbance.