Abstract
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•An overview on bismuth based photocatalyst is presented.•The main challenges in photocatalytic activity enhancement are discussed.•The Z scheme approach for photocatalytic activity enhancement is elaborated.•Perspectives on Bi based Z-scheme photocatalysts are discussed.
Bismuth-based semiconductor photocatalysts have attained remarkable consideration as they own distinctive electronic properties and unique optical configuration. However, the applications pristine bismuth based semiconductors agonized from their inherent limitations and inadequate photocatalytic performance in visible light. Deliberating the substantial observance and persuasive growth in exploitation of bismuth based Z-scheme heterojunctions, in this review we comprehensively updated study related to catalytic wastewater mitigation, counting pollutant mineralization. A comprehensive outline involving traditional photocatalysis alongside with the Z-scheme based semiconductor heterojunction systems have been reviewed concerning their simple synthesis methods and applications. The mechanistic observations assuming charge separation and charger transferal results in photodegradation procedure has been discussed and underlined also.