Hollow Micro-spherical Bismuth Oxy-chloride for Superior Visible Light Induced Dye-sensitized Photocatalytic Activity and its Theoretical Insight

Publication date: Available online 14 January 2020Source: Materials Research BulletinAuthor(s): Ratna Sarkar, Dimitra Das, Bikram Kumar Das, Anuradha Mitra, Nirmalya S. Das, Subrata Sarkar, Kalyan K. ChattopadhyayAbstractHighly-crystalline BiOCl samples exhibiting hollow microsphere like morphology with exposed (110) crystal facets have been synthesized in the present work. The as-synthesized BiOCl samples were characterized in detail by several sophisticated techniques for proper understanding and subsequent analysis of the phase formation, nature of the chemical bonds existing within the samples, composition, morphology and different properties. Variations in synthesis conditions by varying the synthesis temperature and time duration were performed to compare the changes in phase formation, morphology and catalytic activity of the material. The samples showed effective degradation of toxic Rhodamine B dye under both visible light and UV light irradiation. A detailed mechanism of the photocatalytic activity has been proposed by extensive first principles calculations. The hollow microsphere like morphology along with exposed (110) crystal facets proved beneficial for the superior catalytic activity mediated by dye sensitization under visible light.Graphical Abstract
Source: Materials Research Bulletin - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research