Facile synthesis of BiOCl single-crystal photocatalyst with high exposed (0 0 1) facets and its application in photocatalytic degradation

Morphology and crystal facets are important factors for affecting photocatalytic performance of BiOCl. However, facile and effective methods for synthesizing BiOCl single-crystals with well-defined morphology are still lacking. In this study, square-like BiOCl single-crystalline with high exposed (0 0 1) facets was synthesized via a facile and citric acid modulated hydrothermal route (BOC(CA)). The key feature of this method is that only citric acid is used as a structure-directing agent to adjust the structure without addition of any other organic solvents and structural directing agents. Taking the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) dyes as an example, the photocatalytic performance of BOC(CA) was studied and the degradation mechanism was also discussed in detail according to the photocurrent, photoluminescence results and free radical trapping experiments. This study provides not only a facile method for the preparation of highly active catalysts, but also new insights on the structure regulation of catalysts.