BiOCl hierarchical microspheres assembled from nanosheets with exposed {001} facets were successfully synthesized using PEG-2000 as template by a one-pot room-temperature hydrolysis method. The PEG-modified BiOCl photocatalyst exhibits a significantly enhanced RhB photosensitized degradation activity under visible light. After 10 min white LED irradiation, the degradation efficiency of RhB by the PEG-modified BiOCl sample S0.07 reaches 99.5%. The degradation rate constant of the PEG-modified sample S0.07 over RhB is 0.4568 min−1, which is 6.76 times that of the unmodified sample S0 (0.0676 min−1). After 4 min of xenon lamp (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation, the degradation rate of RhB by S0.07 is almost 100%. The exposed {001} facets with surface defects contribute to the superior adsorption capacity of BiOCl towards RhB, which immensely accelerates the electron transfer efficiency from the excited RhB into the conduction band of BiOCl, forming superoxide radical (˙O2−) active species to degrade the pollutants. Moreover, the superior RhB-sensitized BiOCl system provides high photocatalytic degradation activity over MO. This work provides a facile and efficient BiOCl synthesis method that is conducive to large-scale production and simultaneously opens up new ideas for the synthesis of other photocatalysts.
In-situ C-N-S-tridoped single crystal black TiO 2 nanosheets with exposed {001} facets are successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method combined with an in-situ solid-state chemical reduction approach, followed by calcination at 450 °C. The crystal structure, crystallinity, morphology and composition of the as-prepared samples are investigated through X-ray diffraction, Raman, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. The results suggest that the obtained C-N-S-tridoped single crystal black TiO 2 nanosheets exhibit uniform nanosheet-like structure with exposed {001} facets and average length of ∼300–400 nm, thickness of ∼20 nm. The visible-light photocatalytic degradation rate of methyl orange is up to 92.13%, and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is 149.7 μmol h −1 g −1 . The excellent photocatalytic activity can be ascribed to the synergetic effect of surface heterojunction between {001} and {101} facets, the C-N-S-tridoping, and the formed Ti 3+ species in photocatalyst, which can not only favor the visible-light absorption but also facilitate the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges.