Intermediate products driven one-pot in-situ synthesis of BiOCl/WO3 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen and oxygen evolution for potential industrial applications

One-pot in-situ method was one of crucial industrial techniques to construct heterojunctions, while some intermediate reaction mechanisms of photocatalysts in this procedure were not specific enough. Herein, a new intermediate products driven one-pot in-situ method was investigated for construction of BiOCl/WO3 that applied in photocatalytic water splitting. According to some characterizations, the hydrochloric acid and water were recognized as important intermediates controlling on growth of BiOCl/WO3 heterojunction. Under significant effects of Z-scheme structure and internal electric fields, the BiOCl/WO3 showed enlarged light absorption and enhanced photo-induced carriers separation ability that its O2 and H2 evolution rates were improved effectively, in which the optimal photocatalytic O2 (994.5 µmol/g∙h) and H2 evolution activity (83.4 µmol/g∙h) were ∼2.5 and 4.5 times higher than that of the single BiOCl, respectively. Due to compact interfacial connection between BiOCl and WO3 after in-situ synthesis, the heterojunction showed a high stability and recyclability for potential industrial applications. We believe that the facile synthetic method was essential for more researches on heterojunction materials and their industrial applications.