Facile Realization of Boosted Near‐Infrared‐Visible Light Driven Photocatalytic Activities of BiOF Nanoparticles through Simultaneously Exploiting Doping and Upconversion Strategy

Abstract A facile strategy is put forward to improve the photocatalytic activity of BiOF nanoparticles by simultaneously exploiting doping and upconversion engineering. The Er 3+ /Yb 3+ ‐codoped BiOF nanoparticles are synthesized via using high‐temperature solid‐state reaction route. Through employing first‐principles density functional theory, one knows that the electronic structure of BiOF host is greatly impacted by Er 3+ and Yb 3+ ions doping. Excited by 980 nm, bright upconversion emissions are seen in prepared compounds and their maximum intensities are obtained when x = 0.04. Furthermore, the photocatalytic capacity of the designed nanoparticles is explored by detecting the photodegradation of pollutants under visible and near‐infrared lights irradiation. Compared with BiOF, these nanoparticles doped with Er 3+ and Yb 3+ ions have superior photocatalytic activity, in which h + , ·O 2 − , and ·OH active species contribute to the photocatalytic mechanism. Additionally, the resultant nanoparticles also present better photocatalytic activity than commercial ZnO nanoparticles. These achievements imply that Er 3+ /Yb 3+ ‐codoped BiOF nanoparticles are promising near‐infrared‐visible light driven photocatalysts.