In-situ preparation of Cu-BiOCl/Bi2O3-C-dots composite and excellent performance for photocatalytic bisphenol A degradation

Abstract

Economical elimination of organic pollutants from waste water has be paid more attention owing to its environmental and ecological significance. In this study, an easily achievable process to in-situ fabricate copper and co-modified Z-scheme BiOCl/Bi2O3 heterojunction was proposed. The study on the formation mechanism indicated that the introduction of copper ions is favorable for the formation of Bi-based catalyst with flaky morphology while the addition C-dots makes the nanosheets loosely be packed and intercrossed each other. The composite exhibited a high degradation efficiency for Bisphenol A (BPA) and 91% of BPA was removal within 35 min under xenon lamp irradiation. The excellent photocatalytic performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of the in-situ formation Z-scheme BiOCl/β-Bi2O3 heterojunction, multiple charge transfer channels including Cu2+/Cu+ and C-dots, and efficient charge separation. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis and quenching tests revealed that O2•− play a main role in degradation of BPA. Based on the experimental results, the photo-catalytic mechanism is proposed and the degradation path of BPA is revealed.