Gelatin-assisted g-TiO2/BiOI heterostructure nanocomposites for azo dye degradation under visible light. Issue 4 (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krishnakumar, Balu; Hariharan, R.; Pandiyan, V.; Aguiar, António; Sobral, Abilio J.F.N.
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental chemical engineering. Volume 6:Issue 4(2018)
• Page Start: 4282
• Page End: 4288
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: BiOI -- TBAI -- Degradation -- Visible light; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects; Environmental engineering; Periodicals; 660.0286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2018.06.035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-2929

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) was used as the iodide source for BiOI. BiOI loading effectively enhances the degradation ability of the TiO2 . The g-TiO2 /BiOI was found to be reusable. Abstract: For a visible light active photocatalyst, the band alignment of coupled semiconductors is a key step. In here, we present a semiconductor heterostructure obtained between TiO2 and BiOI. Gelatin assisted g-TiO2 /BiOI nanocomposites were prepared in a two step synthetic method. Tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) was used as the iodide source for BiOI. The prepared materials have been characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, DRS and PL measurements. FE-SEM measurements confirmed the presence of sphere like TiO2 particles embedded on the BiOI plates. BiOI loading increases the absorbance of g-TiO2 into the entire visible region, and make these composites more photoactive under visible light. PL measurements confirm the suppression of electron-hole recombination in g-TiO2 /BiOI samples. The prepared materials were used for the azo dye Acid Black 1 (AB 1) degradation under visible light, and it was found that BiOI loading effectively enhances the degradation ability of the TiO2 . The degradation mechanism was proposed based on the energy levels of TiO2 and BiOI. The reusability of the g-TiO2 /BiOI was studied.