One-Step Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity Enhancement of BiOBr/RGO Nanocomposites for Degradation of Methylene Blue

Abstract

In this study, bismuth oxybromide/reduced graphene oxide (BiOBr/RGO), i.e. BiOBr-G nanocomposites, were synthesized using a one-step microwave-assisted method. The structure of the synthesized nanocomposites was characterized using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). In addition, the ability of the nanocomposite to degrade methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation was investigated. The synthesized nanocomposite achieved an MB degradation rate of above 96% within 75 min of continuous visible light irradiation. In addition, the synthesized BiOBr-G nanocomposite exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB. Furthermore, the results revealed that the separation of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the BiOBr-G nanocomposite enhanced the ability of the nanocomposite to absorb visible light, thus improving the photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposites. Lastly, the MB photo-degradation mechanism of BiOBr-G was investigated, and the results revealed that the BiOBr-G nanocomposites exhibited good photocatalytic activity.