Exploration and crystal phase engineering from bismuthinite ore to visible-light responsive photocatalyst of Bi2O3

Semiconductor photocatalysts have attracted considerable research attention because of their extensive range of applications in eliminating hazardous environmental pollutants. Herein, a compact process was introduced to prepare Bi2O3 photocatalyst from bismuthinite ore. This new process is simplified by eliminating the preparation of pure bismuth salts solutions or bismuth ingots compared with the traditional process and beneficial to the controllable preparation of Bi2O3. The synthesized samples were characterized by various analytical techniques and their photocatalytic performance was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. Among the as-prepared photocatalysts, beta-Bi2O3 exhibited much higher photocatalytic activities than alpha and delta-Bi2O3 for degradation of RhB. The much better photocatalytic activities of beta-Bi2O3 was considered to be closely related to its smaller band gap, higher crystallinity and unique crystal structures. Given this, this work might open up a potential avenue for the large-scale preparation of Bi2O3 photocatalyst for advanced photocatalysis systems.