Fabrication of visible-light induced fluorine doped bismuth oxide (Bi2O3-xFx) photocatalyst in degrading textile dyes from wastewater

Discharge of unused and untreated dye effluents into the environment by the textile industries is a major issue. In this wastewater, the methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) remain in a dissolved state along with various pollutants at different levels. To remove these dyes, visible light (λ ​≥ ​420 ​nm) active F (fluorine) doped bismuth oxide (Bi2O3-xFx) photocatalyst was synthesized through facile sol-gel method utilizing bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) and hydrofluoric acid (HF). Bi2O3-xFx demonstrated enhanced photocatalytic activity to decompose methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) under visible light. The F content in Bi2O3-xFx composite was optimized to 0.94 atom % with respect to organics decomposition. The study showed that enhanced photocatalytic activity of Bi2O3-xFx was ascribed due to participation of photo-induced electron (e¯)-hole (h+) in photocatalysis. The existence of hole (h+) and the generated °OH radical was experimentally confirmed in aqueous medium. The formation mechanism of these reactive species was explained on the basis of relative energy band position of Bi2O3-xFx and a detail photocatalytic decomposition reaction mechanism was proposed.