Enhanced photocatalytic activity of Bi24O31Br10 nanosheets by the photodeposition of Au nanoparticles

Abstract Au-Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 heterogeneous nanostructures have been successfully prepared by photo-deposition of gold nanoparticles on the surface of Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 nanosheets. The results demonstrate that the 1Au-Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 nanostructure shows better activity than the pure Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 sample for the degradation of 4-chlorophenol and methyl orange under visible light irradiation, which is contributed by the charge transferring from Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 bulk to the surface of Au nanoparticles, leading to the high-efficiency separation of photo-induced electron-hole pairs, as evidenced by the results of photoluminescence spectra and theoretical calculation. Based on DFT, VB-XPS results and band gap energy, a reasonable photocatalytic mechanism of the Au-Bi 24 O 31 Br 10 heterogeneous nanostructure is proposed.