Construction of BiOCl/g-C3N4/kaolinite composite and its enhanced photocatalysis performance under visible-light irradiation

A novel BiOCl/g-C3N4/kaolinite composite with "sandwich" structure was constructed via layer-by-layer self-assembly. The stacking g-C3N4 and BiOCl were uniformly stripped to ultrathin nanosheets and then immobilized on the lamellae of kaolinite layer by layer. Compared with bare photocatalysts, the resulting BiOCl/g-C3N4/kaolinite composite exhibited enhanced photodegradation ability and good reusability for the removal of rhodamine B and gaseous formaldehyde under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photoactivity of the synthesized composites should be mainly ascribed to the formation of intimate interface contact, resulting in higher charge separation efficiency as well as stronger adsorption ability. In addition, reactive oxidative species, particularly h(+), played the crucial roles in the photocatalytic reaction. BiOCl/g-C3N4/kaolinite composite showed great promising application foreground in environmental cleanup of organic dyes and toxic or harmful gases. (C) 2018 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.