Mechanical forces hammer Mn into Bi3O4Br under room temperature for efficient photocatalytic degradation

Abstract

A rapid mechanical ball milling method at room temperature has been proposed for Mn²⁺ doping. The mechanical force generated by the ball milling process was able to hammer Mn atom into the Bi₃O₄Br lattice in an efficient and stable manner. Doping with Mn²⁺ produces a doping level in the forbidden band. Also, Mn²⁺ promptly scavenged the photogenerated holes, reducing the recombination of photogenerated carriers and promoting the production of numerous active species. As a result, Mn²⁺ doped Bi₃O₄Br exhibited enhanced photodegradation performance towards antibiotic tetracycline, in which the optimal efficiency arrives 81.74%, 1.22 times higher than Bi₃O₄Br.