Engineering shape of BiOCl nanosheets with improved visible-light response for superior photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

BiOCl nanosheets with adjustable shape were fabricated by a facile solvothermal method and the photodegradation property towards RhB was further studied. Batch experiments suggest that the BiOCl synthesized using CTAB (BOC-CTAB) as an additive presents the top-flight photoactivity with ca. 99% of removal rate within 20 min under visible light and shows outstanding recyclability and photostability after 3 cycles. The enormous improvement of degradation rate can be ascribed to enhanced visible-light response, narrow band gap and rapid separation rate of charge carriers. Moreover, the trapping tests suggest that the superoxide radical anions (·O2-) are critical reactive oxidation species to boost the photoactivity. This study indicates that the BOC-CTAB can be considered as an exceptional visible-light-driven photocatalyst used in relative environment remediation.