Tetragonal/orthorhombic-bismuth tungstate homojunction formed through in situ bismuth induced phase transformation as highly efficient photocatalyst for pollutant degradation

Abstract

Tetragonal/orthorhombic-bismuth tungstate (t/o-Bi₂WO₆) homojunctions of high photocatalytic efficiencies were fabricated through a novel in situ Bi induced phase transformation. The photocatalytic efficiencies of t-Bi₂WO₆ were greatly enhanced via formation of the homojunction. Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), a recalcitrant organic pollutant, under simulated sunlight illumination was investigated as a demonstration for the efficiency enhancement. A 6.22 folds improvement was achieved with formation of the homojunction in terms of reaction rate constants. The homojunction catalyst was demonstrated to be photocatalytically stable over a five cycles operation. The t/o-Bi₂WO₆ homojunction enhances separation and utilization efficiency of photo-generated charge carriers and thus greatly boosts the catalytic efficiency. Trapping tests and electron spin resonance spectroscopy were conducted to reveal that singlet oxygen (¹O₂), hole (h⁺), electrons (e^-), and superoxide anion radical (O₂^-) are the main working reactive species for RhB degradation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to prove the feasibility of Bi induced phase transformation of t-Bi₂WO₆ to o-Bi₂WO₆. The present development offers a new design route for high efficiency photocatalysts for water pollution control.

Keywords: Bi(2)WO(6); Bismuth inducement; Homojunction; In situ construction; Phase transformation.