One‐Pot Polyvinyl Alcohol‐Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of Hierarchical Flower‐Like BiOCl Nanoplates with Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity for Degradation of Rhodamine B

Abstract

We have successfully synthesized hierarchical flower‐like bismuth oxychloride nanoplates by a polyvinyl alcohol‐assisted hydrothermal process. The as‐synthesized products were characterized by a collection of techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The concentration of polyvinyl alcohol and hydrothermal time were vital effects for formation of hierarchical flower‐like bismuth oxychloride nanostructures. Rhodamine B (RhB) was selected to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of as‐synthesized samples under visible light irradiation. The degradation was undergone through a photosensitization pathway. The hierarchical flower‐like bismuth oxychloride nanoplates showed much higher RhB removal efficiency than other bismuth oxychloride samples and commercial Degussa TiO2. The active species trapping experiments revealed that the superoxide radicals () were the main active species in aqueous solution. In combining with the N2 bubbling experiment, photocatalysis mechanism was finally proposed.