Core-shell-like BiOBr@BiOBr homojunction for enhanced photocatalysis

Constructing junctions into the photocatalyst with built-in chemical potential differences is important to separate photogenerated electrons and the holes. We first discovered that BiOBr samples prepared from hydrothermal method and hydrolysis way separately show different band structures and crystal sizes. Based on this, we build core-shell homojunction between the two different BiOBr materials through in-situ precipitation assembly. In the [email protected] core-shell-like homojunction, the hydrolysis synthesized BiOBr nanosheets are uniformly grown on the surface of the hydrothermally synthesized BiOBr plates. For the removal Bisphenol A (BPA) in water and nitric oxide (NO) in air, under simulated sunlight irradiation, the homojunction exhibits improved photocatalytic activity over two types of pure BiOBr. The enhanced photocatalytic ability is attributed to increased UV/vis light harvest, and more critically the formation of junction between two types of BiOBrs which allows for efficient charge separation. Our work demonstrates that the design on this new isotype junction could provide a new perspective to promote the photocatalytic activity of BiOBr based materials.