Solid-state synthesis of Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure: preparation and photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

In this work, Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure were prepared through a solid milling and annealing process. It was found that Bi3+ dissolved in the BaTiO3 lattice and the chemical bond was constructed between the interface of Bi2O3 and BaTiO3 after annealing process. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-visible absorption spectra were used to characterize the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure. Furthermore, UV-induced catalytic activities of the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure was studied by a degradation reaction of methyl orange (MO) dye. The band gap of the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure was estimated to be 3.0 eV. Compared with pure Bi2O3 powders, the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure had a much higher catalytic activity. An excellent performance of the photocatalytic property of the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure is ascribed to high mobility of species and effective separation of photogenerated carriers driven by the photoinduced potential difference generated at the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 junction interface, demonstrating that the Bi2O3/BaTiO3 heterostructure is a promising candidate as a photocatalyst.