Photocatalytic properties of bismuth-rich Bi4O5I2/BiOBr flowers prepared by one-step solvothermal method were studied

In this paper, bismuth-rich three-dimensional Bi 4 O 5 I 2 /BiOBr hollow flower spheres were prepared by a one-pot solvothermal method. The anionic contaminant Rhodamine B (RhB) was used as the photocatalytic test contaminant. The results showed that the degradation rate of RhB was more than 99 %. Then Br element was introduced into Bi 4 O 5 I 2 hollow flower balls, the diameter of flower balls decreased and flowers sparsely. With the increase of Br content, flower balls gradually increased in volume and became denser. Small and sparse flower balls increase the specific surface area of flower balls and increase the number of active sites, thus improving the REDOX capacity of photogenerated electrons and holes. Our findings suggest that both holes (h + ) and superoxide radical anions (•O 2 − ) are crucial players during photocatalysis. The aim of this study is to develop an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants, and its photocatalytic mechanism is described theoretically.