Synthesis of Zn2+ doped BiOCl hierarchical nanostructures and their exceptional visible light photocatalytic properties

In this study, BiOCl doped with different contents of zinc were successfully prepared via a facile ethylene glycol (EG)-assisted solvothermal process at 160 degrees C for 12 h. The as-synthesized samples were characterized in details by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and Brunauer Emmet Teller (BET) measurement. The photocatalytic performances were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The results showed that Zn doping did not change the morphologies and particle sizes of BiOCl. However, it had an obvious effect on the photocurrent and BET surface area of BiOCl and accordingly the photocatalytic performance of BiOCl was greatly improved. The Zn-doped BiOCl with R-Zn = 0.07 showed the highest photocatalytic activities with almost all of the RhB decomposed in 8 min. Moreover, repetitive tests imply the good recyclability and stability of the catalysts. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was largely ascribed to the efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and high BET surface area of the catalysts. In addition, a possible mechanism on basis of the experimental results was discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.