Synthesis of BiOCl nanosheets with oxygen vacancies for the improved photocatalytic properties

The square-sharped BiOCl nanosheets with oxygen vacancies were successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route using xylitol as surfactant. The as-prepared BiOCl samples were characterized by Powder X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Electron spin resonance (ESR). The as-prepared samples were phase-pure with the width and the thickness were about 50–400 nm and 20–50 nm respectively. Besides, the photodegradation performances showed the BiOCl nanosheets with 0.1 g concentration of xylitol (BOC-1) had the best photocatalytic activity under visible light due to its special polycrystalline structure, grain boundary and an optimum concentration of oxygen vacancies. The h + and O 2 − were the two main active species during the photocatalytic process and the possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.