Synthesis of novel Cu2O/BiOCl heterojunction nanocomposites and their enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

Novel Cu2O/BiOCl photocatalyst with unique 3D/2D structure and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity was constructed using a facile low-temperature liquid-phase method. The microstructure and properties of Cu2O/BiOCl composites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, FESEM, HRTEM, BET and UV-vis/DRS. With dye X-3B as a model pollutant, the adsorption and visible-light photocatalytic activities of Cu2O/BiOCl composites were investigated, and the photocatalysis mechanism was explored. The results showed that the staggered spaces and edges of BiOCl nanosheets with about 40 nm thickness were inlaided with some Cu2O sub-microspheres, and the heterojunction structures were formed at the interface between BiOCl nanosheets and Cu2O sub-microspheres. Compared with pure Cu2O, pure BiOCl and the mechanical mixture of both, Cu2O/BiOCl composites exhibited markedly improved efficiency for photocatalytic degradation of X-3B. The unique 3D/2D and heterojunction structure in composites could increase the pore volume and BET specific surface area and improve the adsorption properties, on the other hand, it could efficiently enhance the charge carriers separation and migration. The nanocomposites with Cu2O/BiOCl molar ratio of 1:4 showed the highest photocatalytic activity. The effects of various scavengers on photocatalytic efficiency revealed that the degradation of X-3B was mainly initiated by reactive radial O-center dot(2)- and h(+). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.