Co4I3O24H15⋅3H2O: A new amorphous semiconductor with intrinsical photocatalytic performance in organic dye degradation driven by visible light

Amorphous semiconductor photocatalysts are highly desirable because they are facile and low-cost to prepare in comparison with the crystalline ones. The amorphous semiconductor with photocatalytic activity has been rarely reported. In this work, a new amorphous semiconductor photocatalyst, Co4I3O24H15⋅3H2O, was successfully developed. Its microstructure is composed of irregular particles with size of 2–20μm. In photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), or methylene blue (MB) dyes driven by visible light, the Co4I3O24H15⋅3H2O sample exhibited pronounced activity. Its activity is higher than Degussa P25 (commercial TiO2) in RhB degradation. It was testified that the degradation of RhB is due to the intrinsical photocatalytic role of Co4I3O24H15⋅3H2O. The reusability of the Co4I3O24H15⋅3H2O photocatalyst was also investigated.