Glycol assisted splitting BiOIO3 into plasmonic bismuth coupled with BiOI co-modified Bi2WO6 (BiOI/Bi/Bi2WO6) to form indirect Z-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic degradation of BPA

• Glycol assisted splitting BiOIO 3 into plasmonic Bi and BiOI. • The Z-scheme ternary composite was synthesized by hydro-solvothermal method. • The BiOI/Bi/Bi 2 WO 6 heterojunction photocatalyst enhanced photocatalytic efficiency. • The superoxide radical was the dominating active species in the reaction process. • A possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. The indirect Z-scheme ternary heterojunction photocatalyst (BiOI/Bi/Bi 2 WO 6 ) was constructed by the sequential hydro-solvothermal method for enhance photocatalytic performance. The results demonstrated that under visible light, BIOBWO-21 manifested a significantly photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA). The reaction rate constant k value was 32.4 × 10 -4 which was 10 times that of Bi 2 WO 6 and 54 times that of BiOIO 3 . The main reason of the enhanced photocatalytic effect in BPA degradation was that the plasmonic bismuth (Bi) and BiOI deriving from BiOIO 3 splitting in ethylene glycol together modified Bi 2 WO 6 to construct indirect Z-scheme ternary heterostructure. These led to an increase in visible light absorption and accelerated efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole separation. A possible indirect Z-scheme heterojunction reaction mechanism was proposed based on the active species detection, electron spin resonance test, and band structures.