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Bismuth oxide iodate (BiOIO3) has recently been discovered to apply to the research on photocatalytic territory in environmental pollutants solution. However, its weak response to the visible light and high recombination rate of electron–hole pairs have been the stumbling block on the road to application. In this work, to remit the drawbacks, carbon modified BiOI/BiOIO3 heterostructures are prepared by a facile hydrothermal method and a simple calcination method. The prepared structure can effectively promote the separation of charge and suppress recombination of electron–hole pairs. When the ternary photocatalyst is applied to remove gas phase elemental mercury (Hg0) in the condition with visible light irradiating, it exhibits excellent photocatalytic properties. Compared with pure BiOIO3, the removal efficiency of ameliorated samples has been drastically increased. On the basis of the results of experiments, the possible charge migration and recombination mechanism are put forward. As a novel and promising method to enhance photocatalytic performance, this method presents a strategy, which yields tremendous benefits in designing efficient photocatalyst and environmental remediation applications.

Iodate oxygen bismuth (BiOIO3) is a kind of bismuth-based materials with favourable photocatalytic performance which has profound effect on the problem of severe energy shortage and environmental pollution. In this work, a high-efficiency photocatalyst of bismuth vanadate combined with iodate oxygen bismuth (BiVO4/BiOIO3) are prepared via a single hydrothermal method. The as-prepared novel photocatalyst exhibit high photocatalytic performance resulting from high visible light absorbance ability and the formed heterojunction, which is beneficial to the generation and migration of photonic electron hole pairs and inhibit their recombination meanwhile. The photocatalytic oxidation ability of samples is evaluated by removal efficiency of element mercury (Hg0), which is very-hard to be oxidized, under LED (9W) light radiation with the wavelength of approximately 380–450 nm. The experimental results have indicated that the as-prepared composite catalyst show higher efficient in oxidizing Hg0, which could reach up to about 75%. Furthermore, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism about double electron transfer phenomenon between heterostructures is proposed based on characterization and experimental results.