Fabrication of bidirectionally doped β-Bi2O3/TiO2-NTs with enhanced photocatalysis under visible light irradiation

Highlights: • Novel visible-light-activity β-Bi2O3/TiO2-NTs are constructed by bidirectional doping. • TiO2-NTs visible-light absorption edge extends to 495 nm by Bi species modification. • β-Bi2O3 oxidability is enhanced (VB from 2.02 to 2.28 eV) by Ti species modification. • β-Bi2O3 stability is enhanced by Ti atoms doping and TiO2-NTs stake structure. • p–n heterojunction is formed and the photoconversion efficiency is improved. -- Abstract: Stable β-Bi2O3/TiO2-NTs photocatalyst with excellent visible-light-activity is successfully prepared by bidirectional doping. Stake structure of the TiO2-NTs provides a larger specific surface area and makes the contact area between the TiO2-NTs and β-Bi2O3 much larger; The stake structure of TiO2-NTs not only leads to a firmer combination of TiO2-NTs and β-Bi2O3, but also makes them dope one another deeply. The modification of Bi species into TiO2-NTs can form Bi-O-Ti chemical absorption bonds, then a localized impurity level is generated within the band gap. Electrons can be excited and transferred from the Bi3+ impurity level to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2, similar to narrowing the band-gap of TiO2-NTs, resulting in a red shift of the absorption edge and an enhancement in visible-light activity. During annealing, Bi atoms are partially replaced by Ti atoms. The lattice of β-Bi2O3 is compressed around the Ti impurity, making the lattice dislocate and distort. This dislocation and distortion leads to an increase in the β-Bi2O3valance band (VB), from 2.02 to 2.28 eV. Accordingly, the weak oxidability of β-Bi2O3 is improved, and its photocatalytic ability is further enhanced. Moreover, this lattice dislocation and distortion changes the Bi-O distances, thus remarkably improving the stability of the β-Bi2O3/TiO2-NTs