Pine Dendritic Bi/BiOBr Photocatalyst for Efficient Degradation of Antibiotics

Constructing Bi/BiOX (X = Cl, Br) heterostructures with unique electron transfer channels enables charge carriers to transfer unidirectionally at the metal/semiconductor junction and inhibits the backflow of photogenerated carriers. Herein, novel pine dendritic Bi/BiOX (X = Cl, Br) nanoassemblies with multiple electron transfer channels have been successfully synthesized with the assistance of l-cysteine (l-Cys) through a one-step solvothermal method. Such a pine dendritic Bi/BiOBr photocatalyst shows excellent activity toward the degradation of many antibiotics such as tetracycline (TC), norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. In particular, its photocatalytic degradation activity of TC is higher than those of reference spherical Bi/BiOBr, lamellar BiOBr, and BiOBr/Bi/BiOBr double-sided nanosheet arrays. Comprehensive characterizations demonstrate that the pine dendritic structure can construct multiple electron transfer channels from BiOBr to metallic Bi, resulting in an obviously promoted separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. The synthesis method that uses l-Cys to control the morphology provides a guidance to prepare special metal/semiconductor photocatalysts and would be helpful to design a highly efficient photocatalytic process.