Layer-Contacted Graphene-Like BN/Ultrathin Bi_(3)O_(4)Br Stacking for Boosting Photocatalytic Molecular Oxygen Activation

Novel graphene-like boron nitride(BN)/Bi_(3)O_(4)Br photocatalysts have been controllably synthesized through a facile solvothermal method for the first time. Layer contact stacking between graphene-like BN and ultrathin Bi_(3)O_(4)Br was achieved with strong interaction. Dehalogenation is designed to harvest more visible light, and the ultrathin structure of Bi_(3)O_(4)Br is designed to accelerate charge transfer from inside to the surface. After graphene-like BN was engineered, photocatalytic performance greatly improved under visible light irradiation. Graphene-like BN can act as a surface electron-withdrawing center and adsorption center, facilitating molecular oxygen activation. O_(2)^(·-)was determined to be the main active species during the degradation process through analyses of electron spin resonance and XPS valence band spectra.