Enhanced photocatalysis performance of BiOCl/graphene modified via polyvinylpyrrolidone

With the aim to improve the photocatalytic property, BiOCl/graphene (BR) and BiOCl/graphene modified via polyvinylpyrrolidone (BRP) were prepared in a hydrothermal route. The obtained BRP sample showed the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) under visible light illumination as compared to the pure BiOCl and BR samples. The results indicate that the degradation rate constant of the BR reached 0.04874 min−1 as compared to the 0.03227 min−1 for the pure BiOCl. It was found that the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) could uniformly load BiOCl, and the chemical bonding interface between RGO and BiOCl reduced the recombination of electron-hole pairs. Further, adding polyvinylpyrrolidone could refine the size of the BiOCl and increase the number of the BiOCl adhered onto the graphene surface, and thereby providing the highest efficient catalytic effect, with the degradation rate constant reaching 0.06205 min−1.