Room-temperature synthesis of BiOI/Graphene oxide foam composite for phenol removal under visible light

Abstract The coupling of graphene-based materials is a widely adopted method to effectively separate photo-induced electrons and holes, and consequently, improve the performance of photocatalysts. However, the surface modification of semiconductors with graphene materials can block incident light; this is undesirable for the activity enhancement of photocatalysts. To solve this problem, a composite of graphene oxide foam coated with bismuth oxyiodide (GOF–BiOI) was synthesized at room temperature using an in-situ deposition approach. In the composite, BiOI flake arrays stand vertically and uniformly on the surface of GOF. Furthermore, the as-prepared GOF–BiOI exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than BiOI and GO-modified BiOI for the oxidization of phenol under visible light. Based on a collective analysis of the reactive species, photoluminescence, light absorption, textural and morphological properties, the enhanced photocatalytic activity of GOF–BiOI was attributed to the electron trapping role of GOF, which effectively suppress charge recombination, and to the unique structure of GOF–BiOI, which favored not only light absorption but also the attachment of reactive materials and the surface of BiOI.