Construction of Bouquet-like Bi2Se3/Bi2O3@Bi Composites with High Interfacial Charge Separation for the Degradation of Atrazine

Abstract

Using low-density solar energy in the environment and converting it into chemical energy that can drive the degradation of organic pollutants is considered to be a very promising strategy for solving the problem of environmental pollution. The efficacy of photocatalytic destruction of organic contaminants is nonetheless constrained by the high composite rate of photogenic carriers, insufficient light absorption and utilization impact, and sluggish charge transfer rate. In this work, we created a new type of heterojunction photocatalyst with a spherical Bi2Se3/Bi2O3@Bi core–shell structure and investigated its degrading properties of organic pollutants in the environment. Interestingly, benefiting from the fast electron transfer capability of the Bi0 electron bridge, the charge separation and transfer efficiency between Bi2Se3 and Bi2O3 is greatly improved. In this photocatalyst, Bi2Se3 not only has a photothermal effect to speed up the process of photocatalytic reaction, but also has fast electrical conductivity of topological materials at the surface, which speeds up the transmission efficiency of photogenic carriers. As expected, the removal performance of the Bi2Se3/Bi2O3@Bi photocatalyst to atrazine is 4.2 and 5.7 times higher than that of the original Bi2Se3 and Bi2O3. Meanwhile, the best samples Bi2Se3/Bi2O3@Bi showed 98.7%, 97.8%, 69.4%, 90.6%, 91.2%, 77.2%, 97.7%, and 98.9% removal of ATZ, 2,4-DCP, SMZ, KP, CIP, CBZ, OTC-HCl, and RhB, and 56.8%, 59.1%, 34.6%, 34.5%, 37.1%, 73.9%, and 78.4% mineralization. Through characterization such as XPS and electrochemical workstations, it is proved that the photocatalytic properties of Bi2Se3/Bi2O3@Bi catalysts are far superior to other materials, and a suitable photocatalytic mechanism is proposed. A novel form of bismuth-based compound photocatalyst is anticipated to be produced as a result of this research in order to address the increasingly critical problem of environmental water pollution in addition to presenting fresh avenues for the creation of adaptable nanomaterials for additional environmental applications.