Carbon quantum Dots/Bi2WO6 composites for efficient photocatalytic pollutant degradation and hydrogen evolution

Abstract

In this study, we report the facile fabrication of carbon quantum dots (CQDs)/Bi2WO6 nanocomposites, as well as their effective photocatalytic activity for the photodegradation of organic pollutants and hydrogen production. The observed results here revealed that CQDs/Bi2WO6 composites possessed much higher photocatalytic activity in the degradation of both rhodamine B and phenol under simulated solar light after optimizing the hybridization with CQDs, which was attributed to the excellent up-converted photoluminescence, photo-induced electron transfer and electron reservoir properties of CQDs. Significantly different from pure Bi2WO6, the CQDs/Bi2WO6 composites also displayed excellent photocatalytic H2 production activity, which can be ascribed to the suitable conduction band edge and sufficient reduction ability of CQDs.