An Advanced Semimetal–Organic Bi Spheres–g-C₃N₄ Nanohybrid with SPR-Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalytic Performance for NO Purification

Abstract

To achieve efficient photocatalytic air purification, we constructed an advanced semimetal-organic Bi spheres-g-C3N4 nanohybrid through the in-situ growth of Bi nanospheres on g-C3N4 nanosheets. This Bi-g-C3N4 compound exhibited an exceptionally high and stable visible-light photocatalytic performance for NO removal due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) endowed by Bi metal. The SPR property of Bi could conspicuously enhance the visible-light harvesting and the charge separation. The electromagnetic field distribution of Bi spheres involving SPR effect was simulated and reaches its maximum in close proximity to the Bi particle surface. When the Bi metal content was controlled at 25%, the corresponding Bi-g-C3N4 displayed outstanding photocatalytic capability and transcended those of other visible-light photocatalysts. The Bi-g-C3N4 exhibited a high structural stability under repeated photocatalytic runs. A new visible-light-induced SPR-based photocatalysis mechanism with Bi-g-C3N4 was proposed on the basis of the DMPO-ESR spin-trapping. The photoinduced electrons could transfer from g-C3N4 to the Bi metal, as revealed with time-resolved fluorescence spectra. The function of Bi semimetal as a plasmonic cocatalyst for boosting visible light photocatalysis was similar to that of noble metals, which demonstrated a great potential of utilizing the economically feasible Bi element as a substitute for noble metals for the advancement of photocatalysis efficiency.

Ag/Bi12O17Cl2 composite: A case study of visible-light-driven plasmonic photocatalyst

“…The intensity of • O 2 − species signals of composite AB4 is much stronger than that of sample AB0 in Fig. 9A, revealing the more • O 2 − species generated by the composite AB4 than the sample AB0 [40]. The similar tendency can be found for the formation of ·OH radicals in Fig.…”

“…According to the speculation in the XPS section, the work function of metallic Ag is smaller than that of semiconductor Bi 12 [44]. Significantly, the value is more negative than those of E(·OH/H 2 O) (+2.68 eV) and E(·OH/OH − ) (+1.99 eV) and the formation of • OH radicals is theoretically impossible by this manner [40,43]. Consequently, the • OH radicals can only be produced by a chain reaction of single-electron reduction of O 2 to produce • O 2 − , then H 2 O 2 , and eventually ·OH [45].…”

Facile synthesis of Y-doped graphitic carbon nitride with enhanced photocatalytic performance

“…Then the RhB concentration was tested on the UV-Vis spectrophotometer at 554 nm. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 8 Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms and corresponding pore size distribution curves of x Y/g-C 3 N 4 are shown in Fig. S1.…”

Nanobismuth: Fabrication, Optical, and Plasmonic Properties—Emerging Applications

“…(ii) Bi nanostructures can scatter the incident light inside the semiconductor material, thus increasing the optical absorption efficiency and photocarrier generation in this material [102,[104][105][106][119][120][121][122]. (iii) Depending on the electronic configuration of the hybrid (including potential of the photocarriers in the Bi nanostructure, location of the conduction, and valence band of the semiconductor), photocarriers, especially electrons, can flow from the Bi nanostructure to the semiconductor [94,98,103,104,[119][120][121][122][123] or the opposite [105,106,124,125]. erefore, according to different reports, Bi nanostructures can act as an electron donor (the electrons being made available for reactions at the surface of the semiconductor, Figure 12(c)) or as electron acceptor (the electrons provided by the semiconductor reacting at their surface, Figure 12(d)).…”