Integrating plasmonic Au nanorods with dendritic like alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) heterostructures for superior visible-light-driven photocatalysis

To explore the relationship between semiconductor structure and plasmonic noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) property is crucial for developing highly efficient visible light driven photocatalyst. Here, dendritic alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) biphasic heterostructures were first synthesized by a facile and low-cost phase transformation method. Then, plasmonic Au NPs (including Au nanospheres (NSs, similar to 30 nm)) and Au nanorods (NRs, similar to 20, similar to 30, and similar to 35 nm) were loaded onto the alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) heterostructure. The results revealed that these alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) heterostructures exhibited much higher visible-light photocatalytic activities than alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3) for dye degradation. More importantly, compared to plain alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) heterostructures, loading of Au NSs brought similar to 4 times increase in activity and Au NRs 5-11 times depending on nanorods size. The significant boosting of activity is attributed to the large enhancement of charge separation by the formation of alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) interface and more production of radical dot OH radicals by Au NSs or Au NRs. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of these gold NPs on the alpha -Bi sub(2)O sub(3)/Bi sub(2)O sub(2)CO sub(3) heterostructures could also have significant contribution to the activities due to their strong plasmonic near-fields. This work demonstrates that tailoring the semiconductor substrate structure and the plasmonic noble metal NPs properties should constitute a promising strategy for the design efficient solar energy driven photocatalytic materials.