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Novel rare earth ions doped Bi2WO6/rGO hybrids assisted by ionic liquid with enhanced photocatalytic activity under natural sunlight

  • Original Paper: Nano-structured materials (particles, fibers, colloids, composites, etc.)
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Abstract

Rare earth ions doped Bi2WO6/rGO hybrids (Re-BWG) were synthesized by a two-step process, and the introduction of rGO was achieved with the assistance of imidazole based ionic liquids (IL). IL could enhance the dispersion uniformity of rGO, which was beneficial to the combination of Bi2WO6 (BWO) and rGO. Rare earth ions and rGO increased the separation of electron–hole pairs of BWO and enhanced the adsorption for pollutants. Physical-chemical properties of BWO and Re-BWG were investigated by XRD, SEM/TEM, XPS, UV-Vis DRS, PL, EIS, and N2 adsorption analysis. The photocatalytic activity of Re-BWG was envaulted by rhodamine (RhB) degradation under natural sunlight irradiation. Re-BWG possessed excellent photocatalytic activity compared to pure BWO. The proposed mechanism of photocatalytic degradation was deduced, in which the photogenerated O2•- and h+ (on the surface of Re-BWG) played the role of active species during reaction. The photocatalytic performance of Er-BWG was better than the other three Re (La, Ce, and Pr)-BWG hybrids, and the RhB removal efficiency was up to 99.12% within 60 min.

Highlights

  • The novel rare earth ions doped Bi2WO6/rGO hybrids were synthesized by two steps.

  • Introducing rGO to Re-doped Bi2WO6 composites with the assistance of imidazole based ionic liquids.

  • The photocatalytic efficiency of samples was evaluated by RhB solution degradation under natural sunlight irradiations.

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Correspondence to Dianyu Chen.

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Zhan, W., Nie, Y., Wu, Z. et al. Novel rare earth ions doped Bi2WO6/rGO hybrids assisted by ionic liquid with enhanced photocatalytic activity under natural sunlight. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 98, 84–94 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05494-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05494-1

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