Rapid,simple and low-cost fabrication of BiOBr ultrathin nanocrystals with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

BiOBr ultrathin nanocrystals were prepared by a rapid, simple and low-cost route, and characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses. The size of the resulting BiOBr ultrathin nanocrystals is about 60–100 nm in width and 15–20 nm in thickness. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated in terms of the degradation of RhB. Compared with BiOBr three-dimensional microspheres and P₂₅-TiO₂, the BiOBr ultrathin nanocrystals exhibited the best visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity.