Abstract
BiOCl x Br1−x catalysts were synthesized through an alcoholysis method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The as-prepared photocatalysts were found to be tetragonal crystal structure and lamellar plate morphology. Their band gaps were between 3.44 and 2.83 eV. The effect of light response on the photocatalytic activity of BiOCl x Br1−x was investigated by degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). Complete removal of RhB from water was realized under simulated sunlight irradiation for 50 min with BiOCl0.5Br0.5. Mechanism studies showed that photogenerated holes and superoxide anion radicals played important roles in RhB photodegradation. The results of chemical oxygen demand (COD) confirmed RhB mineralization. The effect of light response on the activity of BiOCl x Br1−x was further investigated under monochromatic light irradiation, and BiOCl0.5Br0.5 catalyst exhibited the highest activity. Furthermore, BiOCl0.5Br0.5 exhibited high stability, suggesting its practical application for the removal of RhB pollutant from water.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A.J. Simamora, T.L. Hsiung, F.C. Chang, T.C. Yang, C.Y. Liao, and H.P. Wang, Photocatalytic splitting of seawater and degradation of methylene blue on CuO/nano TiO2, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 37(2012), p. 13855.
Y.Z. Wang, M.Q. Zhong, F. Chen, and J.T. Yang, Visible light photocatalytic activity of TiO2/D-PVA for MO degradation, Appl. Catal. B, 90(2009), p. 249.
K.L. Zhang, C.M. Liu, F.Q. Huang, C. Zheng, and W.D. Wang, Study of the electronic structure and photocatalytic activity of the BiOCl photocatalyst, Appl. Catal. B, 68(2006), p. 125.
E. Keller and V. krämer, A strong deviation from Vegard’s rule: X-ray powder investigations of the three quasi-binary phase systems BiOX-BiOY (X, Y= Cl, Br, I), Z. Naturforsch. B, 60b(2005), p. 1255.
Y.Y. Liu, W.J. Son, J.B. Lu, B.B. Huang, Y. Dai, and M.H. Whangbo, Composition dependence of the photocatalytic activities of BiOCl1−x Brx solid solutions under visible light, Chem. Eur. J., 17(2011), p. 9342.
S. Shenawi-Khalil, V. Uvarov, Y. Kritsman, E. Menes, I. Popov, and Y. Sasson, A new family of BiO(ClxBr1−x ) visible light sensitive photocatalysts, Catal. Commun., 12(2011), p. 1136.
F. Dong, Y.J. Sun, M. Fu, Z.B. Wu, and S.C. Lee, Room temperature synthesis and highly enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of porous BiOI/BiOCl composites nanoplates microflowers, J. Hazard. Mater., 219–220(2012), p. 26.
X. Xiao, R. Hao, M. Liang, X.X. Zuo, J.M. Nan, L.S. Li, and W.D. Zhang, One-pot solvothermal synthesis of threedimensional (3D) BiOI/BiOCl composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activities for the degradation of bisphenol-A, J. Hazard. Mater., 233–234(2012), p. 122.
Z.F. Jia, F.M. Wang, F. Xin, and B.Q. Zhang, Simple solvothermal routes to synthesize 3D BiOBrxI1−x microspheres and their visible-light-induced photocatalytic properties, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 50(2011), p. 6688.
W.D. Wang, F.Q. Huang, X.P. Lin, and J.H. Yang, Visiblelight-responsive photocatalysts xBiOBr-(1-x)BiOI, Catal. Commun., 9(2008), p. 8.
N. Zhang, S.Q. Liu, X.Z. Fu, and Y.J. Xu, Synthesis of M@TiO2 (M=Au, Pd, Pt) core-shell nanocomposites with tunable photoreactivity, J. Phys. Chem. C, 115(2011), p. 9136.
R. Hazime, C. Ferronato, L. Fine, A. Salvador, F. Jaber, and J.M. Chovelon, Photocatalytic degradation of imazalil in an aqueous suspension of TiO2 and influence of alcohols on the degradation, Appl. Catal. B, 126(2012), p. 90.
S.X. Ouyang and J.H. Ye, β-AgAl1−x GaxO2 solid-solution photocatalysts: continuous modulation of electronic structure toward high-performance visible-light photoactivity, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133(2011), p. 7757.
Y. Wang, Z.Q. Shi, C.M. Fan, X.G. Hao, G.Y. Ding, and Y.F. Wang, Synthesis of BiOCl photocatalyst by a lowcost, simple hydrolytic technique and its excellent photocatalytic activity, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 19(2012), p. 467.
H.T. Gao, Y.Y. Liu, C.H. Ding, D.M. Dai, and G.J. Liu, Synthesis, characterization, and theoretical study of N, Scodoped nano TiO2 with photocatalytic activities, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., 18(2011), p. 606.
M.A. Butler and D.S. Ginley, Prediction of flatband potentials at semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces from atomic electronegativities, J. Electrochem. Soc., 125(1978), p. 228.
H.B. Fu, S.C. Zhang, T.G. Xu, Y.F. Zhu, and J.M. Chen, Photocatalytic degradation of RhB by fluorinated Bi2WO6 and distributions of the intermediate products, Environ. Sci. Technol., 42(2008), p. 2085.
S. Horikoshi, A. Saitou, H. Hidaka, and N. Serpone, Environmental remediation by an integrated microwave/UV illumination method: V. Thermal and nonthermal effects of microwave radiation on the photocatalyst and on the photodegradation of Rhodamine-B under UV/Vis radiation, Environ. Sci. Technol., 37(2003), p. 5813.
P.X. Lei, C.C. Chen, J. Yang, W.H. Ma, J.C. Zhao, and L. Zang, Degradation of dye pollutants by immobilized polyoxometalate with H2O2 under visible-light irradiation, Environ. Sci. Technol., 39(2005), p. 8466.
F. Chen, J.C. Zhao, and H. Hidaka, Highly selective deethylation of rhodamine B: Adsorption and photooxidation pathways of the dye on the TiO2/SiO2 composite photocatalyst, Int. J. Photoenergy, 5(2003), p. 209.
H. Tada, T. Mitsui, T. Kiyonaga, T. Akita, and K. Tanaka, All-solid-state Z-scheme in CdS-Au-TiO2 three-component nanojunction system, Nat. Mater., 5(2006), p. 782.
W.S. Kuo and P.H. Ho, Solar photocatalytic decolorization of dyes in solution with TiO2 film, Dyes Pigm., 71(2006), p. 212.
X.F. Chang, M.A. Gondal, A.A. Al-Saadi, M.A. Ali, H.F. Shen, Q. Zhou, J. Zhang, M.P. Du, Y.S. Liu, and G.B. Ji, Photodegradation of Rhodamine B over unexcited semiconductor compounds of BiOCl and BiOBr, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 377(2012), p. 291.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mao, Xm., Fan, Cm. Effect of light response on the photocatalytic activity of BiOCl x Br1−x in the removal of Rhodamine B from water. Int J Miner Metall Mater 20, 1089–1096 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-013-0838-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-013-0838-9