Fabrication of CdTe QDs/BiOI-Promoted TiO Hollow Microspheres with Superior Photocatalytic Performance Under Simulated Sunlight.

Hollow and heterostructured architectures are recognized as an effective approach to improve photocatalytic performance. In this work, ternary TiO/CdTe/BiOI with hollow structure was constructed via a step-by-step method. In addition, the effect of TiO structural regulation and the energy band alignment of BiOI and CdTe quantum dots (CdTe QDs) with TiO in TiO/CdTe/BiOI on photocatalytic dye removal were also studied. The results reveal that the TiO/CdTe/BiOI heterostructures with hollow substrates exhibit much higher photocatalytic activities than pure TiO, P25, TiO/CdTe, and TiO/BiOI and ternary TiO/CdTe/BiOI with solid substrates. For TiO(H)/CdTe/BiOI, several synergistic factors may be responsible for the remarkable visible-light photodegradation performance, such as strong visible-light absorption by BiOI and larger specific surface area.