One-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Bi₂S₃-TiO₂-RGO Composites with Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Activities

The Bi2S3-TiO2-RGO composites were synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B) under the visible light. The Bi2S3-TiO2-RGO composites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The results indicated that the Bi2S3-TiO2-RGO composites were successfully prepared, and Ti-O-C and S-C bonds were existing among Bi2S3, TiO2 as well as RGO. Furthermore, the photocatalytic ability of Bi2S3-TiO2-RGO composites was excellent under visible light due to its responding to the whole visible light region, low recombination rate of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and relatively negative conduction band. Rh B photocatalytic degradation rate was 99.5% after 50[Formula: see text]min and still could reach 98.4% after five cycles. Finally, a formation mechanism as well as a photocatalytic mechanism of Bi2S3-TiO2-RGO composites were proposed based on the experimental results.