The boosted photocatalytic activity over perylene diimide modified Bi2O4 hybrid photocatalyst with internal electric field

In this paper, an organic-inorganic perylene diimide modified Bi2O4 (PDI/Bi2O4) composite photocatalyst was successfully prepared. Its apparent morphology, chemical structure, element composition and chemical state were measured through XRD, XPS, TEM and DRS. It is observed that because of formed an internal electric field, PDI nanorods are well attached to the surface of Bi2O4 nanorods, and a compact interfacial contact is formed, which greatly accelerates the migration rate of photogenerated carriers. When the PDI/Bi2O4 composite photocatalyst was used to degrade Rhodamine B, the reaction rate was 0.169 min-1, which was 7.3 folds more than Bi2O4, and could maintain 80% after three times recycling experiments. Then, combined with the electronic band structure of PDI and Bi2O4, type Ⅱ photocatalytic mechanism is speculated.