Abstract
In the present work, bismuth oxychloride nanoparticles–a light harvesting semiconductor photocatalyst–were synthesized by a facile hydrolysis route, with sodium bismuthate and hydroxylammonium chloride as the precursor materials. The as-synthesized semiconductor photocatalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. The crystal structure, morphology, composition, and optical properties of these facile synthesized bismuth oxychloride nanoparticles (BiOCl NPs) were compared to those of traditional bismuth oxychloride. In addition, the photocatalytic performance of facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs and traditional BiOCl, as applied to the removal of hazardous organic dyes under visible light illumination, is thoroughly investigated. Our results reveal that facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs display strong UV-Vis light adsorption, improved charge carrier mobility and an inhibited rate of charge carrier recombination, when compared to traditional BiOCl. These enhancements result in an improved photocatalytic degradation rate of hazardous organic dyes under UV-Vis irradiance. For instance, the facile-synthesized BiOCl NPs attained 100% degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange dyes in approximately 30 mins under UV-Vis irradiation, against 55% degradation for traditional BiOCl under similar experimental conditions.
Highlights
Water pollution is a colossal problem as it encourages the transmission of waterborne diseases, especially in developing nations
X g (X = 4 and X = 24) of hydroxylammonium chloride was dissolved in 100 ml of DI water and allowed to form a clear solution, this clear solution was added to the above suspension under magnetic stirring in a dropwise fashion
The diffraction intensity ratios of I(110)/I(001) were calculated for BiOCl-T, BiOCl-4 and BiOCl24 and found to be 3.13, 0.26 and 0.62 respectively. This implies that growth of the {001} facets were enhanced in BiOCl-4 and BiOCl-24 as compared to BiOCl-T
Summary
Water pollution is a colossal problem as it encourages the transmission of waterborne diseases, especially in developing nations. Industries that deal with textile, leather, bleaches and dyes for plastic production, cosmetics, packaging, along with photographic commercial enterprises which utilize coloring materials, have been discovered to release their wastewater into streams without appropriate pre-discharge treatment. These effluents, which contain organic pollutants and dyes that are non-biodegradable and synthetically stable poisons are the main reasons for waterborne infections among human beings [1]. Out of the various methodologies and removal methods, development of advanced photo-catalysts remains a “method of choice” for complete degradation of hazardous environmental pollutants (found in drinking water supplies and waste water streams) into harmless carbon dioxide and water [10–20]. The holes can produce OH radicals by oxidizing OH- anions, which can react with pollutants and convert them to more benign substance [25]
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