Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of oxygen-rich bismuth oxychlorides.
A series of novel oxygen-rich bismuth oxychloride (Bi12O17Cl2) were synthesized through a facile poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP)-assisted hydrothermal route. These obtained Bi12O17Cl2 samples were characterized by various physicochemical techniques. It was found that a proper addition amount of PVP could promote the transformation of Bi12O17Cl2 morphology from irregular clusters to three-dimensional hierarchical flower-like microspheres that were nominated as sample BP2. As-synthesized samples were subjected to a photocatalytic degradation of dye Rhodamine B (RhB) or 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) under visible light. Among all candidates, the sample BP2 with a hierarchical flower-like morphology showed the best degradation efficiency for RhB and 2,4-DCP. The apparent rate constant of sample BP2 in terms of degradation of RhB was nearly 5.7 and 45 times that of unmodified BP0 and N-TiO2. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be ascribed to synergetic effects including unique hierarchical morphologies, large specific surface area, small particle size, good crystallinity, and suitable band structures. A possible mechanism of catalytic degradation was finally proposed basing upon the active species trapping experiments.
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China. Electronic address: feichang@usst.edu.cn.
Fei
F
Chang
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.
Jieru
J
Luo
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.
Xiaofang
X
Wang
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.
Yunchao
Y
Xie
School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, PR China.
Baoqing
B
Deng
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, Shandong 264003, PR China. Electronic address: xfhu@yic.ac.cn.
Xuefeng
X
Hu
2,4-Dichlorophenol; Bi(12)O(17)Cl(2); Mechanism; Photocatalysis; Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone); Rhodamine B