Reactable Polyelectrolyte-Assisted Synthesis of BiOCl\nwith Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

The\nreactable polyelectrolyte, poly­(allylamine hydrochloride),\nwas used for the first time to fabricate BiOCl materials via an assisted\nsolvothermal method. The influence of polyelectrolyte concentrations\non the formation of BiOCl was systematically investigated. The samples\nwere characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),\nX-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission\nelectron microscopy (TEM), N₂ gas sorption, infrared spectroscopy\n(FT-IR), as well as ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance\nspectroscopy (DRS). The results showed that the polyelectrolyte, which\nacted as reactant, template, or structure-directing agent, had a great\neffect on the structure of as-fabricated BiOCl materials during the\nreactive process. The possible formation mechanism of the BiOCl materials\nhas been studied. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of the as-fabricated\nBiOCl was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under\nvisible light irradiation. Furthermore, the relationship between the\nstructure of the BiOCl materials and the photocatalyic activity was\nstudied in detail. The holes rather than ^•OH were\nthe predominant active species in the photocatalytic process. Also,\nit can be supposed that the improved light harvesting, high surface\narea, O-vacancies, enhanced adsorption capability of dye, faster interfacial\ncharge separation, and the special structure of BiOCl had contributed\nto the good photocatalytic activity and high photostability of BiOCl\nmicrospheres. This route preparing the BiOCl materials with special\nstructure can be expected to be applicable to the preparation of other\nmaterials with novel morphologies and advanced properties in all kinds\nof fields, including photocatalysis and electrochemistry.