Enhanced visible‐light‐driven photocatalytic activity of F doped reduced graphene oxide ‐ Bi₂WO₆ photocatalyst

Abstract

The reduced graphene oxide‐Bi 2 WO 6 (rGO‐BWO) photocatalysts with the different R F/O values (molar ratio of the F molar mass and the O's molar mass of Bi 2 WO 6 ) had been successfully synthesized via one‐step hydrothermal method. The F‐doped rGO‐BWO samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction patterns (XRD), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐ESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (BET), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). The results indicate that F − ions had been successfully doped into rGO‐BWO samples. With the increasing of the R F/O values from 0 to 2%, the evident change of the morphology and the absorption edges of F‐doped rGO‐BWO samples and the photocatalytic activities had been enhanced. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of F‐doped rGO‐BWO with R F/O = 0.05 were better than rGO‐BWO and the other F‐doped rGO‐BWO under 500 W Xe lamp light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the morphology of the intact microsphere that signify the bigger specific surface area for providing more possible reaction sites for the adsorption–desorption equilibrium of photocatalytic reaction, the introduction of F − ions that may cause the enhancement of surface acidity and creation of oxygen vacancies under visible light irradiation, the narrower band gap which means needing less energy for the electron hole pair transition.