Novel SiO2 nanoparticle-decorated BiOCl nanosheets exhibiting high photocatalytic performances for the removal of organic pollutants

Novel SiO2/BiOCl composites were fabricated by decorating BiOCl nanosheets with SiO2 nanoparticles via a simple hydrothermal process. The as-prepared pure BiOCl and SiO2/BiOCl composites were intensively characterized by various techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM/TEM, BET, UV-vis, DRS, XPS, and photocurrent measurements. The SiO2/BiOCl composite nanosheets displayed high photocatalytic activity and excellent stability in the degradation of organic pollutants such as phenol, bisphenol A (BPA), and rhodamine B (RhB). With respect to those over bare BiOCl, the degradation rates of RhB, BPA, and phenol over 1.88% SiO2/BiOCl increased 16.5%, 29.0%, and 38.7%, respectively. Radical capturing results suggested that h+ is the major reactive species and that hydroxyl (•OH) and superoxide (•O2−) radicals could also be involved in the degradation of organic pollutants. The enhanced photocatalytic performances of SiO2/BiOCl composites can be mainly attributed to the improved texture and the formation of intimate SiO2/BiOCl interfaces, which largely promoted the adsorption of organic pollutants, enhanced the light harvesting, and accelerated the separation of e− and h+.