Controllable synthesis and enhanced visible photocatalytic degradation performances of Bi2WO6–carbon nanofibers heteroarchitectures

Bi2WO6–carbon nanofibers (Bi2WO6–CNFs) heteroarchitectures were fabricated by two steps consisting of the preparation of CNFs by electrospinning and growth of Bi2WO6 on the CNFs through ethylene glycol solvothermal processing. The results showed that the loading amounts of Bi2WO6 on the surface of CNFs could be controlled by adjusting the precursor concentration for the fabrication of Bi2WO6–CNFs heteroarchitectures during the solvothermal process. The photocatalytic tests revealed that the obtained Bi2WO6–CNFs heteroarchitectures showed higher photocatalytic property under visible light to degrade Rhodamine B than pure Bi2WO6 synthesized by solvothermal process in the absence of CNFs owing to improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes. Moreover, the Bi2WO6–CNFs heteroarchitectures could be separated easily by sedimentation due to their one-dimensional nanostructural property. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6–CNFs heteroarchitectures was stable during the recycling due to the strong interactions between Bi2WO6 nanosheets and CNFs. Trapping experiment suggested that $${\text{O}} ₂ ^{\cdot -} $$ , instead of OH·, was the main active species during the photocatalytic process of the Bi2WO–CNFs heteroarchitectures.