Screen-printed p-n BiOCl/BiFeO3 heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

Colloidal-free screen-printed p-n BiOCl/BiFeO3 heterojunctions are successfully synthesized to achieve photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) using visible light (lambda >= 400 nm). The crystalline structure of dense BiOCl nanosheets self-assembled with impressive aspect ratio atop BFO powders is confirmed by XRD, Raman and TEM measurements. Iron impurities inside these 10 +/- 2 nm-thick BiOCl nanosheets increase visible light absorption. Fluorescent Rhodamine B (RhB) dye degradation is used to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of this unique heterojunction material. For optimal metal-enhanced RhB degradation, a few nanometers of platinum are deposited using the sputtering technique to act as a cocatalyst. This unique architecture yields an impressive 92% RhB degradation in only 150 min under visible light. Operating at near-neutral pH, the proposed approach also addresses the key issue of catalysis recovery, which remains one of the main drawbacks of current photocatalysis technologies.