CeO2 nanoparticles decorated Bi4O7 nanosheets for enhanced photodegradation performance of phenol

• CeO 2 nanoparticles decorated Bi 4 O 7 nanosheets composite with type II heterojunctions is synthesized. • The heterojunction mode is confirmed by First principles DFT calculations and experimental results. • The transition of Ce 4+ to Ce 3+ additionally enhance the transfer efficiency of electron. • Accelerating the photogenerated electron transfer of Bi 4 O 7 helps to improve its photocatalytic effect and stability. In this work, a type II heterojunction of CeO 2 nanoparticles decorated Bi 4 O 7 nanosheets composite has been designed to effectively improve the ability to transfer photogenerated electrons from Bi 4 O 7 . The synthesized CeO 2 /Bi 4 O 7 gives rise to a largely enhanced photocatalytic removal performance of phenol compared with single Bi 4 O 7 and CeO 2 . Combined with DFT calculations, the transport paths of photogenerated carriers in CeO 2 /Bi 4 O 7 composite are defined.