Novel synthesis of Bi2S3 short nanorods and Bi2S3/BiOBr composite with superior photocatalytic performance for degrading organic pollutants

Previous synthesis of Bi2S3 nanorods with a length about 100 nm scale typically involved the organic solvents and protective atmosphere. In this study, Bi2S3 short nanorods (about 100 nm in length) are synthesized via hydrothermal treating Bi(C3N3S3) prepared previously in aqueous solution, and Bi2S3/BiOBr composite is synthesized by similar route. The Bi2S3/BiOBr composite possesses a unique microstructure that Bi2S3 nanorods are uniformly and tightly combined with BiOBr nanosheets with the similar size. The Bi2S3/BiOBr composites exhibit photocatalytic performance for degrading organic pollutions which largely outperforms other BiOBr-based materials. Under the visible-light irradiation, the Bi2S3/BiOBr composite removes 99.2 % and 86.2 % of Rhodamine B and tetracycline hydrochloride molecules, respectively, after photocatalytic degradation for 15 min and 50 min, correspondingly. These results can be attributed to the enhanced specific surface area which provided sufficient active sites for adsorption and photocatalysis, as well as the improved light absorption capacity, electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties of Bi2S3/BiOBr composite, which are derived from the excellent interface bonding between suitable amount of Bi2S3 short nanorods and BiOBr nanosheets. This new synthesis method is characterized by its simplicity, environmental friendliness, and reliability, thereby offering novel insights for preparing metal sulfide nanomaterials and constructing heterojunctions for high performance photocatalyst.