In-situ growth of Bi2S3 nanocrystals on Bi4O3I2 nanostructure with excellent photocatalytic performance under visible light

In this article, novel Bi2S3/Bi4O5I2 heterojunction was synthesized by a facile ion-exchange method with thioacetamide as sulfur source. Multiple techniques were employed to analyze the structure and chemical composition of prepared samples. The photocatalytic performance of the Bi2S3/Bi4O5I2 heterojunction samples was investigated by the photodegradation of methyl orange under visible light. The Bi2S3/Bi4O5I2 heterojunction of S/BOI-2 sample presented the highest activity constant among all samples. Additionally, the photocatalytic mechanism is proposed according to the trapping experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) results.