Flexible Carbon-Fiber/Semimetal Bi Nanosheet Arrays as Separable and Recyclable Plasmonic Photocatalysts and Photoelectrocatalysts

In this work, we prepared flexible carbon-fiber/semimetal Bi nanosheet arrays from solvothermal-synthesized carbon-fiber/Bi₂O₂CO₃ nanosheet arrays via a reductive calcination process. The flexible carbon-fiber/semimetal Bi nanosheet arrays can function as photocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts for 2,4-dinitorphenol oxidation. Compared with carbon-fiber/Bi₂O₂CO₃ nanosheet arrays, the newly designed flexible carbon-fiber/semimetal Bi nanosheet arrays show enhanced ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) light absorption efficiency and photocurrent, photocatalytic, and photoelectrocatalytic activities. Photocatalytic analyses indicate that the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of semimetal Bi occurs under solar-simulated light irradiation during the photocatalytic process. The carbon-fiber traps the hot electrons exerted from the SPR of semimetal Bi and creates holes in the semimetal Bi nanosheets, which boosts the photocatalytic activity of the carbon fiber through plasmonic sensitization. Both photocatalytic experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the electrons transferred to the carbon fiber and the holes created in semimetal Bi contribute to the formation of •O₂^- and •OH, respectively. The synergistic effect between electrocatalysis and photocatalysis under the solar-simulated light results in almost complete degradation of 2,4-dinitorphenol during the photoelectrocatalytic process. This work realizes a non-noble-metal plasmonic catalyst and provides a new avenue for the commercialization of photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis using the separable and recyclable carbon-fiber/semimetal Bi nanosheet arrays in the environment-related field.