In situ synthesis of N-doped carbon nanotubes–BiOCl nanocomposites and their synergistic photocatalytic performance

Abstract

N-Doped carbon nanotube–BiOCl (NCB) nanocomposites were prepared by an in situ growth strategy in liquid ethylene glycol (EG). The prepared samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy. The photocatalytic investigations showed that the 2-NCB nanocomposites loaded with 2.0 wt% N-doped carbon nanotubes (CN_xNTs) possessed the highest rate constant, which is about 2.5, 3.7, and 1.5 times that of pure BiOCl 3D hierarchical structures, BiOCl/MWCNTs composites, and P25, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the beneficial microstructure, synergistic effects of coupled CN_xNTs–BiOCl nanocomposites, and the high migration efficiency of the photogenerated electrons, which may effectively suppress the charge recombination.