Efficient photocatalytic degradation of volatile organic compounds over carbon quantum dots decorated BiWO under visible light.

A series of CQDs/BiWO (CBW) hybrid materials with different loading amounts of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were prepared via a facile in situ hydrothermal method. As determined by multiple techniques including XRD, TEM, UV-vis, PL, TPR, and XPS, the CBW possessed expanded visible light response interval, decreased recombination rate of the photogenerated electron hole, and enhanced oxidation ability as compared with the pristine BiWO. In addition, with different loading amounts of CQDs, the optical and electronic properties of the corresponding CBW were different. These CBW materials performed superior activities to the pristine BiWO in the photodegradation of VOCs under visible light, among which the CBW-2 demonstrated the best activity of almost complete degradation within only 120 min. Moreover, the CBW-2 exhibited high stability and reusability after five cycles.