Novel Z-scheme Bi3O4Cl/Bi24O31Cl10 2D/3D heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light

In the present work, using one single precursor of Bi2O3, a novel efficient visible‎-light driven Z-scheme Bi3O4Cl/Bi24O31Cl10 2D/3D heterojunction is developed by simple and eco‎-friendly solid‎-state reaction method. Three polycrystalline phases Bi3O4Cl (Bi3), Bi24O31Cl10 (Bi24) and a composite system Bi3/Bi24 were synthesized. All phases were characterized by X ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM, TEM), FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. Besides, the electronic structure of the pristine catalysts was investigated by the DFT computational method. Photodegradation analyses of rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) were performed to differentiate the efficiencies of the three types of photocatalysts Bi3, Bi24 and composite Bi3/Bi24. The best photocatalytic efficiency was obtained from the Bi3/Bi24 system characterized by Z−scheme heterostructure, tight contact 2D/3D. The photocatalytic mechanism of degradation is proposed in adequation with charge carriers trapping experiments revealing that the Z-scheme photocatalyst can produce more reactive oxidative species ∙OH and h+. Furthermore, this Z-scheme Bi3O4Cl/Bi24O31Cl10 2D/3D heterostructure exhibits high photoactivity and stability after several runs of photocatalysis.