Hollow micro-spherical bismuth oxy-chloride for superior visible light induced dye-sensitized photocatalytic activity and its theoretical insight. (May 2020) - Sarkar, Ratna
Graphical abstract: Highlights: BiOCl hollow micro-spherical morphology was synthesized with exposed (110) facets. Complete degradation of RhB dye in presence of visible light within 6 min. The photocatalytic mechanism was supported by first principles calculations. The superior catalytic activity was mediated by dye sensitization under visible light irradiation. Abstract: Highly-crystalline BiOCl samples exhibiting hollow microsphere like morphology with exposed (110) crystal facets have been synthesized in the present work. The as-synthesized BiOCl samples were characterized in detail by several sophisticated techniques for proper understanding and subsequent analysis of the phase formation, nature of the chemical bonds existing within the samples, composition, morphology and different properties. Variations in synthesis conditions by varying the synthesis temperature and time duration were performed to compare the changes in phase formation, morphology and catalytic activity of the material. The samples showed effective degradation of toxic Rhodamine B dye under both visible light and UV light irradiation. A detailed mechanism of the photocatalytic activity has been proposed by extensive first principles calculations. The hollow microsphere like morphology along with exposed (110) crystal facets proved beneficial for the superior catalytic activity mediated by dye sensitization under visible light.