Water-hyacinth-leaf-like 2D bismuth oxychloride photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue and crystal violet dyes

Abstract

In this research, we synthesized a water-hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)-leaf-like 2D bismuth oxychloride (Bi₃ClO₄) photocatalyst using a simple co-precipitation method. The as-synthesized Bi₃ClO₄ is characterized by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, SEM, EDAX and BET analysis. The XRD results showed that the material has a monoclinic crystal structure. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the existence of the vibrational bands of bismuth oxychloride. The BET surface area measurement indicated that the material has a porous structure with a surface area of 13.68 m² g⁻¹. The SEM analysis revealed that the material has a well-defined nanostructured sheet-like morphology. The EDAX study showed that the synthesized material has a well-defined stoichiometry. The as-synthesized bismuth oxychloride photocatalyst exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation. Complete degradation of crystal violet (100%) was achieved within 75 min, while methylene blue showed 96% degradation within 105 min. These findings highlight the strong potential of bismuth oxychloride as an efficient photocatalyst for wastewater remediation.