Biomolecule-assisted Solvothermal Synthesis and Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Performance of Bi2S3/BiOCl Composites

Novel Bi2S3/BiOCl photocatalysts were successfully synthesized via a facile biomoleculeassisted solvothermal method and biomolecule L-cysteine was used as the sulfur source.The structures,morphology,and optical properties of the synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）,Raman spectroscopy,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy（DRS）.The presence of Bi2S3 in the Bi2S3/BiOCl composites could not only improve the optical properties but also enhance the photocatalytic activities for the degradation of Rhodamine B（Rh B） under visible-light irradiation（λ〉420 nm） as compared with single Bi2S3 and BiOCl.Especially,the sample displayed the best performance of the photodegradation when the feed molar ratio of BiCl3 and L-cysteine was 2.4：1,which was about 10 times greater than that of pure Bi OCl.The enhanced photocatalytic activities could be ascribed to the effective separation of photoinduced electrons and holes and the photosensitization of dye.Moreover,the possible photodegradation mechanism was also proposed,and the results revealed that the active holes（h＋） and superoxide radicals（·O2-） were the main reactive species during photocatalytic degradation.

Novel multi-heterostructured Pt-BiOBr/TiO2 nanotube arrays with remarkable visible-light photocatalytic performance and stability

Unique multiple heterojunction of Pt-BiOBr/TiO2 nanotube arrays（Pt-BiOBr/TNTAs） was achived by successively loading both Pt nanoparticles（NPs） and BiOBr nanoflkes（NFs） on surface of ordered and spaced TiO2 nanotubes（NTs） using anodization followed by solvothermal and sequential chemical bath deposition（S-CBD） method. The fabricated Pt-Bi OBr/TNTAs were fully characterized, and the photocatalytic（PC） activity and stability of PtBiOBr/TNTAs toward degradation of methyl orange（MO） under visible-light irradiation（λ＆gt;400 nm） were evaluated. The results reveal that multiple heterostructures of Pt/TiO2, Pt/BiOBr and BiOBr/TiO2 are constructed among TNTAs substrate, Pt NPs and BiOBr NFs, and the hybrid Pt-BiOBr/TNTAs catalyst exhibits remarkable visible-light PC activity, favourable reusability and long-term stability. The combined effect of several factors may contribute to the remarkable PC performance, including strong visible-light absorption by both Pt NPs and BiOBr NFs, lower recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes attributed to the multiple heterojunction, microstructures for facile light injection and adsorption as well as efficient mass transport, and larger specific surface area for enhancing light absorption, increasing the effective contact area between the absorbed dye molecules and catalyst and benefiting the molecule transport of reactants or products.

Cp_2ZrCl_2-catalyzed synthesis of 2-aminovinyl benzimidazoles under microwave conditions

A microwave-assisted general method for the synthesis of 2-aminovinyl benzimidazoles has been developed.Treatment of the 1,2-phenylenediamines and N-arylated/N,N-dialkylated 3-aminoacroleins with bis（cyclopentadienyl）zirconium（IV） dichloride（Cp2Zr Cl2） as the catalyst under microwave irradiation for 3–5 min followed by in situ Mn O2 oxidation afforded thirteen 2-aminovinyl benzimidazoles in good yields.