Solid-state chemical synthesis of rod-like fluorine-doped β-Bi₂O₃ and their enhanced photocatalytic property under visible light

Highlights: • β-Bi₂O₃ rod-like microstructures was firstly synthesized by solid-state chemical reaction. • β-Bi₂O₃ rod-like materials exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light. • The simple method could be extended to synthesize other photocatalytic materials. - Abstract: The pure β-Bi₂O₃ and fluorine-doped β-Bi₂O₃ rod-like microstructures were successfully prepared by a facile solid-state chemical reaction process. The composition, structure and morphology of the samples were determined by XRD, EDS, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, XPS and PL. Photocatalytic activities of all samples were investigated via the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under the irradiation of visible light. The fluorine-doped β-Bi₂O₃ rods exhibited higher photocatalytic activities than the pure β-Bi₂O₃ rod-like structures and commercial sample. The 82% MO can be degraded by the fluorine-doped β-Bi₂O₃ rods after irradiation for 2 h under visible light, which is 2–3 times higher than that of counterparts. The enhanced properties of the fluorine-doped samples attribute to their higher separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs and strong oxidation potential of valance band holes. The results show that the as-prepared rod-like fluorine-doped β-Bi₂O₃ materials are potential candidates for photocatalysts irradiated by visible light.