Preparation of flower-like BiOBr/Bi2WO6 Z-scheme heterojunction through an ion exchange process with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract Flower-like BiOBr/Bi2WO6 Z-scheme heterojunction was prepared by an ion exchange process. Bi2WO6 was evenly coupled with BiOBr which was confirmed by structure and composition characterization. Compared with single Bi2WO6 or BiOBr, the BiOBr/Bi2WO6 heterojunction showed significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance in degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB), tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) and potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7). The formation of BiOBr/Bi2WO6 heterojunction broadened the visible light absorption range and prohibited recombination of the charge carries remarkably. The mechanism of yielding photocatalytic performance with the BiOBr/Bi2WO6 heterojunction was proposed.