A facile hydrothermal method to BiSbO4 nanoplates with superior photocatalytic performance for benzene and 4-chlorophenol degradations

BiSbO4 nanoplates with a large BET specific area has been prepared successfully via a facile hydrothermal reaction from Sb2O3 and Bi(NO3)(3). The effects of reaction conditions and the precursors on the final products were investigated. It is proposed that the redox reaction between Sb2O3 and Bi(NO3) (3) plays a pivotal role in the formation of nanocrystalline BiSbO4. The hydrothermally prepared nanocrystalline BiSbO4 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2-sorption BET surface area, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The DRS result clarifies that BiSbO4, originally believed to be a visible light responsive photocatalyst, is indeed UV light responsive with a band gap of 3.5 eV. The existence of Bi containing an impurity may be responsible for the visible light response of BiSbO4 prepared via a conventional solid state reaction. BiSbO4 nanoplates prepared via the hydrothermal method showed superior photocatalytic performance for the degradation of benzene and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as compared to BiSbO4 prepared via a solid state reaction and Degussa P25. BiSbO4(Hy) nanoplates can be a promising photocatalyst in the treatment of environmental pollution.