Plasma enhanced Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst via a novel in-situ method

This paper presented the plasmonic Bi in-situ deposited on the surface of Bi₂O₂CO₃ nanoplates forming plasma enhanced Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst through a facile one-pot solvothermal method by using methanol as both solvent and carbon source. The water splitting efficiency of the as-prepared Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst was much better than that of pure phase Bi₂O₂CO₃ due to the Bi nanoparticles surface plasma resonance (SPR) effect for promoting light response and the charge carriers separation and transfer. The experimental results also showed that the H₂O played an important role in the fabrication of Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃ heterojunction photocatalyst, furthermore, the content of Bi in Bi/Bi₂O₂CO₃ changed with the variation of additional H₂O which impacted photocatalytic activities. The method of semimetal in-situ deposition without reductants in this work also provided new perspectives into the rational design and facile synthesis of bismuth based semiconductor photocatalysts.