Morphology-Controlled Synthesis of BiOI: Adsorption–Photocatalytic Synergistic Removal of Aqueous Cr(VI)
摘要
Adsorption–photocatalysis technology effectively treated Cr(VI)-containing wastewater. This study successfully synthesized flower-like and mortar-shaped BiOI microspheres by modulating the molar ratio of the bismuth and iodine (Mol(Bi/I)). The prepared BiOI microspheres exhibit different degrees of iodine defects, significantly affecting the morphology, bandgap energy, and photocatalytic activity. Adsorption experiments demonstrated that removing aqueous Cr(VI) using BiOI followed the second-order kinetic chemical adsorption model, which was consistent with the behavior of the Langmuir monolayer. BiOI-C had the largest BET-specific surface area (68 m2·g – 1) and desorption pore volume. The adsorptive removal of Cr(VI) from water reached 90% at pH 6. This process followed the Langmuir monolayer adsorption kinetic with a second-order rate, yielding a maximum adsorption capacity (qm) of 63.94 mg·g − 1. The synergistic effect between adsorption and photocatalysis of BiOI was utilized to enhance the removal of Cr(VI), and the removal of Cr(VI) by BiOI-C reached 99.7% after 120 min of illumination, which was 7.32 times faster than that of reddish-orange mortar-shaped BiOI-E. This result is attributed to BiOI-C having the optimal iodine defect level and the largest BET-specific surface area, enabling it to exhibit the highest photocurrent density, fastest charge transfer rate, as well as its stability in adsorption–photocatalytic removing Cr(VI). This research provides substantial data support for synthesizing high-performance photocatalysts and enhancing synergistic methods for water contaminant removal.
Graphical Abstract