Effect of pH on the Performance of Bi2O2CO3 Nanoplates for Methylene Blue Removal in Water by Adsorption and Photocatalysis

In this study, a facile low-temperature hydrothermal method was applied for the synthesis of bismuth subcarbonate nanoplates (Bi2O2CO3). The material was then characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, BET, and TGA. The applicability of Bi2O2CO3 was evaluated via the treatment of methyl blue (MB) in water by adsorption and photocatalytic degradation. The experiment results with different pH from 2 to 12 indicate that the pH of the solution affected the surface charge of the synthesized Bi2O2CO3, thus having strong effects on the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation abilities of Bi2O2CO3 for MB removal. In adsorption tests, pH 6-7 is the most suitable condition for the adsorption of Bi2O2CO3. In photocatalytic tests, Bi2O2CO3 had the highest and lowest efficiencies of 64.19% (pH 5) and 17.59% (pH 2), respectively, under UV irradiation for 300 min. Copyright (c) 2022 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Automated summary

In this study, bismuth subcarbonate nanoplates (Bi2O2CO3) were successfully synthesized using a facile low-temperature hydrothermal method. The material was characterized and evaluated for its adsorption and photocatalytic degradation abilities towards methyl blue (MB) in water. The results showed that the pH of the solution strongly influenced the surface charge and performance of Bi2O2CO3 in MB removal.