Novel synthesis of PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl nanocomposite with enhanced visible-driven-light photocatalytic activity

• Published in: Catalysis today 2018-02, Vol.300, p.112-123
• Main Authors: Liu, Fu-Yu, Jiang, Yu-Rou, Chen, Chiing-Chang, Lee, Wenlian William
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2-Hydroxybenzoic acid; BiOCl; Crystal violet; PbBiO2Cl; Photocatalytic
• ISSN: 0920-5861; 1873-4308
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cattod.2017.04.030

Schematic illustration of the band gap structures of P3BC1-200-13-12 (PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl). [Display omitted] •This is the first report that PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl is synthesized by hydrothermal method.•PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activities on the CV and 2-HBA degradation.•The catalytic performance illustrates the best reaction rate constant 2.763×10−1h−1.•The results reveal that the reactive O2−, OH, h+, 1O2 plays the major roles in the CV degradation. The first synthetic study on PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl nanocomposite preparation using a controlled hydrothermal method is reported. The composition and morphologies of the samples could be controlled by adjusting some growth parameters, including reaction pH, Pb/Bi molar ratio, and temperature. All the samples are characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS, SEM-EDS, FT-IR, BET, EPR, and UV–vis-DRS. The photodegradation activities are evaluated against the de-colorization of crystal violet (CV) and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (2-HBA) in aqueous solution under visible light illumination. In particular, the catalytic performance illustrates the best reaction rate constant 2.763×10−1h−1 once PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl is used as the photocatalyst for the degradation of CV; which is 3.01 and 2.12 times higher than the reaction rate constant of PbBiO2Cl and BiOCl being the photocatalysts, respectively. This study reveals that PbBiO2Cl/BiOCl can be used for repressing the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs and contribute to the enhanced photocatalytic activity of semiconductors in the visible-light-driven catalysis. The possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism is studied by using different active species through EPR and adding suitable scavengers. The results reveal that the reactive O2−, OH, h+, 1O2 play the major roles in the CV degradation.