Facile construction of SPR effect assisted Bi2O2CO3/Bi/BiOCl Z-scheme heterostructure for robust photocatalytic decontamination of RhB

A ternary Bi2O2CO3/Bi/BiOCl Z-scheme heterostructure with an ordered flower-like structure was synthesized by controlling KCl content using a facile solvothermal technique, and the photodegradation performance of RhB was investigated in detail. The photocatalytic results suggested that the Bi2O2CO3/Bi/BiOCl manifested an attractive photodegradation rate with 99.20 % of removal efficiency within 20 min of irrigation. The main reason was credited to the SPR effect of metallic Bi and the construction of Z-scheme heterojunction, endowing enhanced adsorption ability of visible light, long lifetime of charge carriers, and fast interfacial electron flow. Furthermore, the degradation pathways towards RhB were also elaborated via LC–MS. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was explored by combining the radicals quench experiments, ESR tests with energy band structures. The study will supply a potential candidate for the remediation of natural RhB wastewater.