In-situ construction of the novel In2S3/BiOIO3 heterojunction with boosted visible-light photodegradation performance for diverse persistent organic pollutants

Designing rational heterojunctions to achieve efficient separation and transmission of photoinduced charge carriers is one of the effective strategies to improve the activity of semiconductor photocatalysts. In this study, the novel In₂S₃/BiOIO₃ binary heterojunctions were facilely synthesized at room temperature using a simple in-situ growth method. The physicochemical properties of the fabricated In₂S₃/BiOIO₃ heterojunction catalyst were investigated using various techniques including XRD, FT-IR, BET, XPS, TEM, UV–vis DRS, PL, EIS, and PC analysis. The In₂S₃/BiOIO₃ composite catalyst possesses suitable band position and bandgap energy and therefore is capable of degrading organic contaminants under visible light irradiation. The optimized composite catalyst with In₂S₃/BiOIO₃ molar ratio of 0.5 (In₂S₃/BiOIO₃-5) exhibited superior photocatalytic activity, achieving 98.6 % degradation rate for Rhodamine B (RhB), far surpassing the performance of the individual components. In addition, In₂S₃/BiOIO₃-5 showed broad-spectrum photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of various organic pollutants including methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), tetracycline (TC) and bisphenol A (BPA). The improved photocatalytic activity of the prepared composite catalysts can be ascribed to the formation of type-II heterojunction, which facilitates the separation and migration of e^–/h⁺ pairs. The excellent photocatalytic properties and favorable structural stability make In₂S₃/BiOIO₃-5 a viable material for degrading various persistent organic pollutants.