Facile Preparation of BiOCl/ZnO Heterostructure with Oxygen‐Rich Vacancies and Its Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance

Abstract Photocatalysis is an effective technique for degrading contaminants, however, its effect is inhibited by the high recombination rate of photo‐induced carriers in the photocatalyst. Therefore, this drawback can be overcome by defect engineering (such as oxygen vacancies) and heterostructure, which can expand light response as well as promote the separation and migration of photo‐induced carriers. Herein, BiOCl/ZnO nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by microwave strategy. Experimental results indicated that tetracycline hydrochloride (TC‐HCl, 100 mg/L) was decomposed 90% in 60 min by BiOCl/ZnO heterostructure under visible light, which is 3.34 and 1.08 times higher than that of pristine BiOCl and ZnO, respectively. Various characterizations demonstrated that oxygen vacancy and heterostructures not only extend the light response range but also improve the separation and migration efficiency of photo‐induced carriers, and thereby BiOCl/ZnO heterostructure exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance under vis‐light. This work paves a new way to decorate wide band gap photocatalyst by point defect and heterostructures, and provides a good reference for its application.