Enhanced photocatalytic activity of BiOCl with regulated morphology and band structure through controlling the adding amount of HCl

BiOCl photocatalysts with different morphologies were prepared by controlling the adding amount of HCl using a simple one-step solvothermal method, the hierarchical structure of BiOCl changes from nanoneedles to nanosheets and the space between the hierarchical structure increases with the increase of the adding amount of HCl. BiOCl-6 possesses the best photocatalytic rhodamine B (RhB) degradation performance under white light illumination. BiOCl-6 has the more negative conduction band potential, thus the electrons on the conduction band have stronger reduction ability. Free radical trapping experiments show that superoxide radicals play the major role in the photocatalytic RhB degradation of BiOCl-6. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.