Photocatalytic activity of attapulgite–BiOCl–TiO2 toward degradation of methyl orange under UV and visible light irradiation

Abstract

An environmental friendly composite photocatalyst with efficient UV and visible light activity has been synthesized by introducing BiOCl–TiO2 hybrid oxide onto the surface of attapulgite (ATT) (denoted as ATT–BiOCl–TiO2), using a simple in situ depositing technique. The obtained products were characterized by XRD, TEM, BET and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra measurements. Results showed that BiOCl–TiO2 composite particles were successfully loaded onto attapulgite fibers' surface without obvious aggregation. The photocatalytic activity of ATT–BiOCl–TiO2 was investigated by degradation of methyl orange under UV and visible light irradiation. It was found that 100mgL−1 methyl orange was totally decomposed under UV light within 70min and 92.57% of 10mgL−1 methyl orange was decomposed under visible light within 120min using ATT–BiOCl–TiO2 as photocatalyst. These results were quite better than that of P25, especially under visible light irradiation. Possible mechanism for the enhancement was proposed.