Elevating the Photocatalytic Performance of BiOCl by Promoting Light Utilization: From Co doping to the Microreactor

Owing to its unique layered structure, BiOCl demonstrates high photocatalytic activity. However, its wide bandgap hinders the absorption of visible light. Doping modification is an effective method to expand the light absorption edge of photocatalysts by creating a doping energy level within the bandgap. Herein, Co as a variable valence element was used to dope the BiOCl nanosheets through a simple hydrothermal approach. As a result, the absorption edge of Co–BiOCl extends to the visible light region, and the photocatalytic performance was enhanced by 3.02 times. To overcome the shortcoming of photons being consumed easily in the bulk reactor, a planar microreactor was introduced to reduce the attenuation of light and accelerate the mass transfer. By comparison to the bulk reactor, a maximum of 15.3-fold additional activity promotion emerged. This work combines doping modification and reactor improvement to realize highly efficient photocatalysis in practical application.