Influence of oxygen vacancy defects on Aurivillius phase layered perovskite oxides of bismuth towards photocatalytic environmental remediation

Abstract

Abstract The low light absorption and rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers are primary contributors to the low activity of various photocatalysts. Fabrication of oxygen vacancy defect-rich materials for improved photocatalytic activities has been attracting tremendous attention from researchers all over the world. In this work, we have compared the photocatalytic activities of oxygen vacancy-rich Bi2MoO6 (BMO-OV) and Bi2WO6 (BWO-OV) for the degradation of a model pharmaceutical pollutant, ciprofloxacin under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity was increased from 47% to 77% and 40% to–67% for BMO-OV and BWO-OV, respectively in comparison to pristine oxides. This enhancement can be ascribed to suppressed charge carrier recombination and increased surface active sites. In addition, scavenger studies have been done to explain the role of photoinduced charge carriers in the degradation mechanism. Moreover, oxygen vacancy-rich photocatalysts have remained stable even after three consecutive cycles, making them promising materials for practical applications. Overall, this work provides deeper insight into the design and development of oxygen vacancy-rich materials.