C-scheme electron transfer mechanism: An efficient ternary heterojunction photocatalyst carbon quantum dots/Bi/BiOBr with full ohmic contact

[Display omitted] •An efficient ternary heterojunction photocatalyst CQDs/Bi/BiOBr was firstly prepared.•The interfaces of CQDs/Bi/BiOBr are combined by ohmic junction with low contact impedance.•DFT calculations reveal C-scheme electron transfer mechanism of CQDs/Bi/BiOBr. With a facile one-pot solvothermal method, an efficient ternary heterojunction photocatalyst carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/Bi/BiOBr is firstly prepared. Ethylene glycol (EG) is used as the solvent and carbon source for the first time. At 190 °C for 3 h, while BiOBr is synthesized, EG is employed to prepare CQDs through bottom-up method. CQDs are grafted by a large number of functional groups with reducibility, which reduce some neighboring BiO+ to metal Bi. By modifying the solvothermal temperature and time, CQDs and Bi are in-situ controllably deposited on the surface of BiOBr microspheres. Due to different Fermi levels and work functions, the interfaces of CQDs, BiOBr and Bi are connected through ohmic junctions with low contact impedance. The hot electrons from Bi with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties, and electrons in the CB of BiOBr flow to CQDs, forming a C-scheme electron transfer mechanism. O2− from CQDs and h+ in the VB of BiOBr respectively attack the sites with higher and lower electron density in methyl orange (MO) molecule, resulting in its photodegradation into small molecular products.