NEW FAMILY OF PHOTOCATALYSTS BASED ON Bi2O3.

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0022-4596(88)90015-1

Solid solutions of Bi//2O//3 and Nb//2O//5 crystallize in several distinct structures, each related to defective fluorite, and since each specific structure exhibits a particular band gap, scope exists for some tuning of the photoelectrochemical properties of the ternary oxides. A solid of composition 31Bi//2O//5 is capable of photooxidizing propan-2-ol and of photodecomposing chlorinated hydrocarbons. It is found that although Bi//2O//3 itself is not a useful, or indeed stable, photocatalyst the enormous range in composition of oxide solid solutions derivable from it suggests that a range of semiconducting compounds can be generated by this method.