Abstract
The novel SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposites were successfully fabricated by a thermal decomposition approach. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, EDS, FTIR, DRS and PL spectra. The results show that the SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposites are composed of perovskite SrTiO(3) nanoparticles and tetragonal Bi(5)O(7)I nanorods. The SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposites exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance for the degradation of RhB solution under simulated solar light irradiation, which is superior to that of pristine Bi(5)O(7)I and SrTiO(3). In particular, the 30 wt% SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposite is found as the optimal composites, over which the dye degradation reaches 89.6% for 150 min of photocatalysis. The photocatalytic degradation rate of the 30 wt% SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposite is found to be 3.97 times and 12.5 times higher than that of bare Bi(5)O(7)I and SrTiO(3), respectively. The reactive species trapping experiments suggest that [Formula: see text] and holes are the main active species responsible for the RhB degradation. In addition, the PL spectra elucidate the effective separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Further, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of the SrTiO(3)/Bi(5)O(7)I nanocomposites is also elucidated based on the experimental evidences.