Tamarindusindica Mediated Combustion Synthesis of BiOCl: Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes and Synthesis of β-Enaminones

Environmental pollution due to dyes has been increasing continuously due to the large number of textile industries, which affects living systems. Photocatalytic degradation (PCD) is one of the most efficient methods to expel organic dyes in wastewater. In this respect, synthesizing photocatalytic nanoparticles to degrade organic dyes by a simple and cost-effective method is the real challenge. In this article, a carcinogenic dye, methylene blue, is considered for our study as it releases highly toxic species into the ecosystem and causes severe health problems such as cancer, skin and kidney problems, etc. Bismuth oxychloride has been synthesized by simple, low cost and rapid combustion method using low cost, easily available Tamarindusindica as a fuel at 500 °C for ~10 min. The obtained BiOCl has been characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and surface area by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The XRD pattern shows a tetragonal phase and the FT-IR spectrum shows the presence of Bi-Cl at 1109 cm⁻¹. SEM shows a flake-like morphology and HR-TEM displays d-spacing values of 0.13 nm. Photoluminescence studies show a green emission peak at 530 nm. Synthesis of β-enaminones was also examined using analogues of aniline and dimedone in presence of BiOCl as a photocatalyst.