Issue 14, 2020

Photocatalytic activity of 2D nanosheets of ferroelectric Dion–Jacobson compounds

Abstract

Dion–Jacobson compounds have a layered perovskite structure, and a small number of them have been identified as being ferroelectric. Here, RbBiNb2O7 powders are made by conventional solid-state synthesis. The relatively large Rb ion produces an interlayer within the structure with a large spacing and weak bonding. This work shows for the first time that a polar layered perovskite can be exfoliated into 2D nanosheets using a facile and scalable method, namely liquid-phase sonication. With both 2D materials and ferroelectrics being of interest for photocatalysis, the photocatalytic performance of RbBiNb2O7 nanosheets is characterized by measuring its dye degradation rate under a solar simulator. It is demonstrated that the RbBiNb2O7 nanosheet material effectively decolourizes Rhodamine B under visible illumination even though it has a wide bandgap (3.45 eV), and that its photocatalytic activity is greatly enhanced (∼4 times faster) when decorated with photodeposited Ag nanoparticles. Reducing the nanosheet size also increases the photocatalytic performance. This work demonstrates that polar 2D Dion–Jacobson phase RbBiNb2O7 is a promising candidate for photocatalytic applications. Further improvements are possible by identifying compounds with a narrower bandgap as a broad compositional window is available in this family of compounds.

Graphical abstract: Photocatalytic activity of 2D nanosheets of ferroelectric Dion–Jacobson compounds

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Oct 2019
Accepted
31 Jan 2020
First published
25 Mar 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 6564-6568

Photocatalytic activity of 2D nanosheets of ferroelectric Dion–Jacobson compounds

W. Xiong, H. Porwal, H. Luo, V. Araullo-Peters, J. Feng, M. Titirici, M. J. Reece and J. Briscoe, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 6564 DOI: 10.1039/C9TA11639G

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