Abstract
A bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) nanostructure is prepared by a new low temperature route using sodium dodecyl sulfate as template and urea as hydrolytic agent. A novel heterojunction is developed between BiOCl and tungsten oxide (WO 3) to make it an efficient visible light photocatalyst. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and N 2 sorption isotherms. The WO 3/BiOCl heterojunction system extends the absorption edge to the visible region efficiently. BiOCl works as a main photocatalyst while WO 3 acts as the photosensitizer absorbing visible light in the WO 3/BiOCl composite. The individual BiOCl and WO 3 show very low photocatalytic efficiency under visible light irradiation but their heterojunction provides unexpectedly high efficiency in decomposing rhodamine B as compared to Degussa P25, pure BiOCl, and WO 3.
Published Version
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