A facile synthesis of novel ε-Fe2O3 grafted 2D h-BN nanostructures for enhanced visible active photocatalytic applications

Abstract

Novel nanostructures of h-BN and ε-Fe₂O₃ grafted h-BN (h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃) have been synthesized by solvothermal method. The prepared h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures are highly reproducible. XRD analysis confirmed the phase and crystal structure of synthesized h-BN and h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures. The sheet like morphology of the nanostructured h-BN and h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ are confirmed by SEM, TEM and HRTEM analyses. Moreover, the uniform distributions of ε-Fe₂O₃ on the surface of h-BN nanosheets are confirmed by SEM and TEM images. FT-IR and Raman studies are used to identify the functional groups and structure of h-BN and h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructures. The optical absorption spectra show a clear red shift in the h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructure compared to pure h-BN nanosheets which shows the electronic band structure modification in BN caused by grafting of ε-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles onto the surface of h-BN. The chemical composition of prepared h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ heterostructure is analyzed by XPS. The photo oxidative performance of pure h-BN and h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructure has been studied for oxidative decomposition of formic acid under visible light irradiation. The h-BN/ε-Fe₂O₃ nanostructure showed relatively high photo oxidative performance compared to pure h-BN.