Synthesis of Highly Active Photocatalyst Mesoporous Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 Nanoparticles Via a P123-Assisted Sol–Gel Method

Porous Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 nanoparticles with a grain size of about 40 nm were synthesized by the block copolymer Pluronic P123-assisted sol–gel method. The X-ray diffraction results show that Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 nanoparticles with a sillenite structure are obtained with addition of P123 surfactants. The N 2 adsorption–desorption isotherm indicates that mesoporous Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 particles with P123 of 1.3 g have a wide pore size distribution and a large average pore size. The band gap of Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 particles for P123 of 1.3 g achieves 1.81 eV. The degradation rate of methyl orange reaches about 91% upon using a Bi 24 Fe 2 O 39 catalyst under visible light irradiation for 1 h. The photoluminescence spectra reveal that the addition of P123 obviously restrains the recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes in the process of the photocatalytic reaction.