Sonochemical Synthesis of Large Two‐Dimensional Bi ₂ O ₂ CO ₃ Nanosheets for Hydrogen Evolution in Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Laterally large (≈3 µm), atomically thin 2D Bi2O2CO3 nanosheets (2D bismuth oxycarbonate, bismutite) are fabricated via sonochemically assisted, template-free synthesis. Keys to the synthesis of freestanding, laterally from bulk Bi powder choice suspension medium, controlled reaction temperatures, and several hours processing time. Lateral sizes can be between µm-sized tens nm sized nanoflakes solely based on medium. The here introduced nano-sheets/-flakes then hybridized by a simple mix-and-match approach with TiO2 nanoparticles for testing in suspension-type photocatalytic hydrogen production water splitting. This introduces as prospective noble-metal-free catalyst component evolution, beyond Bi2O2CO3's current use photocatalyst organic pollutant degradation. These results enrich fabrication toolbox emerging pnictogen oxycarbonates toward demonstrate potential evolution