Bi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Nanosheet Composites with Bi-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks for Photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Production
Jianting Wang, Yun Yun Gong, Meichao Gao, Yanping Zheng, Yuanyuan Feng, Meiyu Xu, Qian Chu, Junfeng Yan
Abstract
Heterojunction integration of inorganic semiconductors with metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is verified to be a rational strategy to achieve efficient charge separation and to enhance photocatalytic performance. In this work, Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 /Bi-MOF heterostructures were fabricated by an in situ surface trimesic acid (H 3 BTC) etching method. First, Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanosheets were prepared by the chemical precipitation method. After adding to H 3 BTC, the rod-shaped Bi-MOF was firmly anchored on Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanosheets because of the reaction of Bi 3+ in Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 with H 3 BTC. As a result, Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 /Bi-MOF composites displayed enhanced photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production capacities with 280.5 μmol/g/h under simulated sunlight illumination, which is 11.23 and 6.06 times higher than pure Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 and Bi-MOF, respectively. The excellent H 2 O 2 yield can be attributed to the formation of the in-close contact heterostructure and the internal electric field between Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 and Bi-MOF, which is conducive to inhibiting the recombination of photoinduced electron–hole pairs at the interfaces, thus showing high photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production performance. This work can inspire exploration of the construction of effective inorganic/MOF hybrid heterostructures for photocatalytic H 2 O 2 production.