Chemical precipitation synthesis of Bi0.7Fe0.3OCl nanosheets via Fe (III)-doped BiOCl for highly visible light photocatalytic performance

It remains a challenge to improve the photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) under visible light irradiation. In this work, BiOCl was changed by doping iron ions with a simple chemical precipitation method. During fabrication, under acidic conditions (pH = 3), bismuth nitrate and ferric chloride were mixed together and then annealed at 400 ℃, 450 ℃, 500 ℃ and 550 ℃, respectively. Finally, Bi0.7Fe0.3OCl with uniform doping of Fe (III) was obtained. The properties of Bi0.7Fe0.3OCl samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and UV–vis. Bi0.7Fe0.3OCl nanomaterials synthesized at different temperatures were compared for their photocatalytic performance through investigating the degradation of a dye (Rhodamine B) under visible light. The experimental results showed that doping with Fe (III) can improve the visible light catalytic efficiency of BiOCl. Bi0.7Fe0.3OCl-450 had the best RhB removal rate, reaching 74 % within 3 h, which was about 4.8 times higher than pure BiOCl. This work may provide a promising method for preparing metal-doped BiOCl materials with efficient photocatalytic performance by generating large quantities of electron-holes during the photoreaction process.