Reduced graphene oxide modified flower-like BiOCOOH architectures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

A series of reduced graphene oxide flower-like BiOCOOH (RGO-BiOCOOH) composites with different weight addition ratios of reduced graphene oxide have been prepared for the first time by a two-step solvothermal approach, which showed higher photocatalytic activity than BiOCOOH toward degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) in water under simulated sunlight irradiation. The RGO-BiOCOOH composite with 2 wt% RGO content exhibited the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of RhB, which was about 2 times of pure BiOCOOH microflower. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of RGO-BiOCOOH composite could be attributed to the synergetic effects of enhanced adsorption capacity, narrower band gap, and more efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and effective interfacial hybridization between RGO and flower-like BiOCOOH architecture. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.