Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of BiOCl with Ti3C2 Nanosheets for Pollutant Photodegradation

Ti 3 C 2 /BiOCl composite was successfully synthesized by combining BiOCl (BOC) with an exposed (110) crystal plane and Ti 3 C 2 using a simple hydrothermal process. The photocatalytic performance of produced composite was evaluated using the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) under visible light. The results demonstrated that Ti 3 C 2 /BOC composite had higher photocatalytic activity than pure BOC. The optimum incorporation amount of Ti 3 C 2 was 2 wt%. The photodegradation rate of 2 wt%-Ti 3 C 2 /BOC at 10 min to 20 mg/L RhB was 97.6%, which was much higher than that of BOC (75.3%). Similarly, the photodegradation rate of 2 wt%-Ti 3 C 2 /BOC to 10 mg/L TCH at 30 min was 80.4%, which was higher than BOC (68.1%). In addition, the prepared 2 wt%-Ti 3 C 2 /BOC composite also maintained good stability even after four cycles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), transient photocurrent response (IT) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis) confirmed that the photoelectrochemical properties of 2 wt%-Ti 3 C 2 /BOC composite were significantly improved. On the basis of analyzing the action mechanism of photocatalyst, it was pointed out that ·O 2 - and h + were the main active substances in the photodegradation of RhB and TCH by 2 wt%-Ti 3 C 2 /BOC.