In-situ fabrication of hollow BiOIxCly n-n type heterojunction microspheres with enhanced visible-light-driven performance for rhodamine B degradation and CO2 reduction

Abstract

It is pressing to explore highly efficient and broad-spectrum photocatalysts to address environmental issues. In this work, in situ self-assembled hollow BiOIxCly n-n type heterojunction microspheres were simply synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method, and the microstructure, morphology, optical, photoelectrochemical, and photocatalytic properties of the samples were researched. The photocatalytic activity of materials was investigated for Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation and CO2 reduction. The characterization results illustrated that the introduction of moderate amounts of Cl− in BiOI could promote the conversion of RhB and CO2, and it improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electrons and holes in BiOI. Specially, when the doping ratio of I− and Cl− was 2:1, BiOIxCly exhibited the most outstanding photocatalytic activity for RhB degradation (99.42 %, 20 min) and reduction of CO2 to methanol (1042.12 µmol/gcat, 8 h) and ethanol (264.53 µmol/gcat, 8 h), which were approximately 3.40 and 3.91times larger than that of BiOI, respectively. This study could describe a potential strategy for assisting with environmental purification and energy transformation.