Features of bismuth and silicon oxides synthesis by pulsed laser ablation in water

Semiconductor nanomaterials are widely used in photocatalysis due to a number of advantages such as efficient electron separation and flexible choice of semiconductor with desired band gap for efficient light absorption. Bismuth silicates (BSO) are promising new photocatalytic materials for organic decomposition and hydrogen production [1]. Currently mainly chemical methods of synthesis are used to obtain BSO materials. In this work for the first time complex oxides BSO were prepared via pulsed laser ablation (PLA) in a liquid. PLA was performed by exposing Si and Bi targets to Nd:YAG laser radiation (1064 nm, 7 ns). Separately synthesized nanocolloids were mixed and subjected to additional laser irradiation and then dried. Using different Si/Bi ratios, as well as temperature treatment of the resulting powders, BSO of various compositions were synthesized, including monophases of the compounds Bi2SiO5, Bi4Si3O12 and Bi12SiO20. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was estimated by the decomposition of Rhodamine B under LED source irradiation with rad = 375 nm. The effect extra irradiation of colloids mixture on the formation of the structure of complex oxides BSO at different Si/Bi ratios has been studied. The correlations between the optical properties, composition and structure of catalysts and their photocatalytic properties has been established. It was shown that the best photocatalytic activity exhibits Bi12SiO20 powders