Issue 8, 2020

Oxygen vacancy induced superior visible-light-driven photo-catalytic performance in the BiOCl homojunction

Abstract

The photocatalytic performance of semiconductors can be enhanced by expanding the spectral response range and accelerating the photo-induced charge separation. Introduction of oxygen vacancies and construction of homo-junctions in BiOCl were adopted to widen the absorption spectra and reduce the photogenerated electron–hole pair recombination, further enhancing its photocatalytic activity. Black BiOCl with oxygen vacancies and a homo-junction was fabricated using a simple one-pot hydrothermal method. Meanwhile, white BiOCl nanosheets and nanorods with crystal growth in different orientations were simultaneously synthesized to compare with the black BiOCl homo-junction, which exposed the same crystal facets as those of black BiOCl. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was performed to confirm the formation of the crystal-facet homo-junction, while the existence of oxygen vacancies in black BiOCl was proved by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The spectral absorption range and the photo-generated electron–hole pair separation ability of catalysts were characterized by UV-vis diffuse reflectance absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), transient photocurrent density and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The photo-catalytic activities of the black BiOCl homo-junctions were evaluated through degradation of RhB and disinfection performance towards E. coli and S. aureus, and they can degrade 99.9% of RhB solution and disinfect 97% of bacteria under simulated sunlight irradiation. Further, the possible photo-catalytic mechanism and the improvement of photo-catalytic performance could be ascribed to the introduction of oxygen vacancies and the construction of homo-junctions, which was also confirmed by theoretical computation.

Graphical abstract: Oxygen vacancy induced superior visible-light-driven photo-catalytic performance in the BiOCl homojunction

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
28 Bit 2020
Accepted
27 Elb 2020
First published
27 Elb 2020

Mater. Chem. Front., 2020,4, 2314-2324

Oxygen vacancy induced superior visible-light-driven photo-catalytic performance in the BiOCl homojunction

S. Niu, R. Zhang and C. Guo, Mater. Chem. Front., 2020, 4, 2314 DOI: 10.1039/D0QM00187B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements