Rich oxygen vacancies facilitated photocatalytic performance of BiOBr induced by carbon black

Oxygen vacancies (OVs) perform a crucial role in influencing the separation of photoinduced carriers, expanding light response range. In this study, BiOBr photocatalysts with rich OVs were facilely fabricated by a hydrothermal approach with the assistance of carbon black (CB), and then the samples were obtained by removing CB after baking in an air atmosphere. 3D structured BiOBr shows a high separation of photoexcited carriers, resulting in boosted photocatalytic activity for removal of rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated sunlight exposure. When the mass ratio of CB/BiOBr is 0.3%, BiOBr obtained has the best photocatalytic activity, which is more than two-fold of that of the reference BiOBr. The photocatalytic mechanism of OVs-BiOBr was revealed.