Visible light-driven flower-like Bi/BiOClxBr(1−x) heterojunction with excellent photocatalytic performance

In this work, a series of flower-like Bi/BiOCl x Br (1− x ) heterojunction photocatalysts have been developed. Bi nanoparticles were grown on the BiOCl x Br (1− x ) nanosheets via an in situ chemical reduction with the assistance of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide aqueous solution. The in situ growth of Bi nanoparticles on the BiOCl x Br (1− x ) nanosheets could not only give rise to the optical absorption in the visible region, but also promote the photocatalytic performance of BiOCl x Br (1− x ) . Bi/BiOCl 0.8 Br 0.2 exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance, which could completely degrade RhB in 12 min under the UV light irradiation and 6 min under visible light irradiation, respectively. Moreover, holes and superoxide radicals were verified to be the primarily active species in the photocatalytic process.