Visible light responsive bismuth niobate photocatalyst: Enhanced contaminant degradation and hydrogen generation

Niobate photocatalysts are of considerable interest in both contaminant degradation and H₂ generation. However, the chemically inert nature limits the synthetic routes available to obtain these materials. Within this paper, single-crystalline Bi₃NbO₇ nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by combining polymerized complex-assisted and hydrothermal methods. The reaction temperature was as low as 140°C and the reaction time was only 12 h. The morphology, physical properties, and band structure of the sample was systematically investigated. The as-prepared Bi ₃NbO₇ nanocrystallites in our experiment possessed higher photocatalytic activities in the photocatalytic degradation of both phenol and aqueous ammonia under visible-light irradiation than those of samples such as commercial Nb₂O₅, amorphous Nb₂O ₅·nH₂O, nitrogen-doped TiO₂, P25 and Bi₃NbO₇ synthesized by solid solution routes. Moreover, the single-crystalline Bi₃NbO₇ nanoparticles were also able to efficiently evolve hydrogen from water under visible light, which provides a superior candidate for visible-light responsive photocatalysts.