An ultrasound-assisted, precipitation-deposition method has been developed to synthesise visible-light-responsive BiOBr-ZnFe(2)O(4) heterojunction photocatalysts. The heterojunctions with suitable BiOBr/ZnFe(2)O(4) ratios have a fascinating micro-spherical morphology and exhibit exceptional photocatalytic activity in visible-light degradation of Rhodamine B.

We have fabricated a BiOBr film for the first time through water-air interfacial self-assembly, which is a green, easily processable and environmentally friendly strategy. Moreover, an ultraviolet photodetector based on the BiOBr film exhibited excellent stability and a fast response time.

We have reported the synthesis of superstructured nanonetworks of BiOCl and nested nanonetworks of Bi(2)S(3) in a series of lattice-directed topotactic transformations [C. F. Guo et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 138, 8211-8215]. Here we extend the transformations to a much broader system including ordered nanowall networks of BiOCl, BiOBr, Bi(2)O(2)CO(3), β-Bi(2)O(3), and Bi(2)S(3), as well as ne...

†University College London, Kathleen Lonsdale Materials Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK ‡Diamond Light Source Ltd., Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE, UK ¶Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies and Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK §Global E3 Institute and...

We prepared an α-Bi2O3/BiOBr core-shell heterojunction via a facile in situ chemical transformation method. Ultrathin BiOBr nanosheets were observed and these were found to be evenly distributed on the surface of α-Bi2O3/BiOBr by SEM and TEM. The results revealed that the prepared α-Bi2O3/BiOBr photocatalysts were porous, and their specific surface areas were found to be raised on comparing wit...

The electronic structures and photocatalytic properties of bismuth oxyhalide bilayers (BiOX1/BiOX2, X1 and X2 are Cl, Br, I) are studied by density functional theory. Briefly, their compositionally tunable bandgaps range from 1.85 to 3.41 eV, suitable for sun-light absorption, and all bilayers have band-alignments good for photocatalytic water-splitting. Among them, heterogeneous BiOBr/BiOI bil...

A highly efficient novel photocatalyst consisting of nitrogen-carbon dots (N-CDs) and three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical BiOBr was synthesized via a simple ultrasonic-assisted method and used for the degradation of hazardous dyes. Deposition of N-CDs onto the surface of BiOBr was confirmed through structure and composition characterizations. The N-CDs/BiOBr composites exhibited superior activi...

Bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) micropsheres with hierarchical morphologies have been fabricated via an ionothermal synthesis route. Ionic liquid acts as a unique soft material capable of promoting nucleation and in situ growth of 3D hierarchical BiOBr mesocrystals without the help of surfactants. The as-prepared BiOBr nanomaterials can effectively remove heavy metal ions and organic dyes from waste...

The three quasi-binary phase systems BiOX–BiOY (X, Y = Cl, Br, I) have been investigated by X-ray powder methods. No quaternary phases were found in the three systems. BiOCl–BiOBr and BiOBr–BiOI form systems of unlimited mutual solubility. BiOCl–BiOI is a system of limited solubility at the iodine-rich side. In the BiOBr–BiOI system a strong deviation from Vegard’s rule is observed with respect...