Enhancing the photocatalytic performance of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ by in situ grown Bi₂O₂CO₃ and Bi through two-step light irradiation method

Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃/Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (Bi/BOC/BSO) composites were fabricated by the two-step light irradiation method, through the in situ growth of Bi and Bi₂O₂CO₃ on Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO) flowerlike particles prepared by the oil bath method. Compared to the normal BSO sample, the heterojunction structure of Bi/BOC/BSO composites exhibited better photocatalytic activity, and the reaction rates of Rhodamine B (RhB) and Tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) were respectively increased by 12 times and 3.3 times under simulated sunlight. In addition, the TOC removal efficiency of RhB and TC can be 42.9% and 80.7% within 12 h, respectively. The activity enhancement was ascribed to the synergistic effect of the heterojunction structure and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. In addition, the controlled trapping experiments demonstrated that ^[rad]O₂ ^– played a major role in the degradation of organic pollutants. This simple surface modification method may provide a new path to improve the photocatalytic performance of Bi-based systems.