Synthesis of Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

In this work, the Bi2O3@BiOI was first compounded with UiO-66, and the Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 ternary composite material was prepared by a simple one-pot solvothermal method. Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 exhibits the higher RhB and tetracycline photocatalytic degradation under visible light irradiation, which can be attributed to the reducing the forbidden bandwidth of the electronic transition and preventing the combination of electrons and holes, the increased surface area of the composite for RhB and tetracycline adsorption accomplished with photodegradation process. [Display omitted] •Composited BiOI and Bi2O3 reduces the bandgap of the electronic transition..•A Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 material is obtained by adding Bi2O3 and UiO-66 before the synthesis of BiOI.•Enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability has been observed compared to monomers and Bi2O3@BiOI composites.•Combining with UiO-66 enhances the specific surface area and reduces the combination of electrons and holes. Bi2O3 is a photocatalyst with excellent performance; however, its applications are limited due to its wide bandgap. In this paper, by adding BiOI and the metal–organic framework UiO-66, a Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 composite material is obtained with high adsorption capacity, in which the bandgap of Bi2O3 is reduced, the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes is prevented, the photocatalytic efficiency and stability are improved. In visible light degradation experiments, Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 has obvious degradation effects on Rhodamine B and tetracycline, which are 22.2 and 1.04 times that of pure Bi2O3, respectively. Bi2O3@BiOI@UiO-66 demonstrats its potential as photocatalytic degradation material.