Bi2O3-SnO2 nanocomposites formed at a nominal molar ratio of 3:1 and loaded with Pd/Pt nanoparticles synthesized by a sol gel-hydrothermal method with the aid of a template were thoroughly characterized by X-ray diffraction, TEM-EDX, N2 sorptiometry, diffuse reflectance UV-Vis, FTIR, photoluminescence and electrical conductivity. It has been shown that Pd and Pt stimulate the existence of β-Bi2O3 and SnO2, respectively together with the key component Bi2Sn2O7. The Photocatalytic results indicate that the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye on Pd/β-Bi2O3-Bi2Sn2O7 revealed a remarkable performance as compared to Pt/SnO2-Bi2Sn2O7 and Bi2O3-SnO2 samples in both UV and visible regions. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the Pd/β-Bi2O3-Bi2Sn2O7 nanocomposite is primarily attributed to the broad contact between β-Bi2O3 and Bi2Sn2O7 phases those indicate high mesoporosity and hetero-junction structures resulting in separation efficacy between photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Specifically, the photosensitive β-Bi2O3 is easily excited and released electrons to be accepted by Bi2Sn2O7 and Pd that might be deposited in the interlayer between β-Bi2O3 and Bi2Sn2O7. The degradation mechanism of MB over Pd/β-Bi2O3-Bi2Sn2O7 in the visible region showed that the dye degradation proceeds through evolution of •O2− and •OH radicals as evaluated using photoluminescence and free radicals trapping experiments. An insight into the electrical properties including dielectric constant and impedance of the materials indicates that Pd/β-Bi2O3-Bi2Sn2O7 has the highest conductivity based on increasing the ionic transport and defects at β-Bi2O3/Bi2Sn2O7 hetero-junction. This later material displayed an improved photocurrent response of higher power conversion efficiency comprised of 50% and 250% exceeding Pt/SnO2-Bi2Sn2O7 and SnBi3 respectively, in dye-sensitized solar cells. Picosecond-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and polarization gated PL anisotropy measurements were combined to clarify the process of FRET from the excited Pd/β-Bi2O3-Bi2Sn2O7 to SD N719. This indicates that the later structure is proposed as multifunctional candidate for lead as dye-sensitized solar cell, electrical material and efficient photocatalyst based on its versatile structure. |
