Fabrication of BiOCl/ZnO/CN Nanocomposite for Visible-Light Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes

The zinc oxide (ZnO) based heterogeneous semiconductors has acknowledged extensive attention but its property was radically repressed because of diminutive visible light photocatalytic activity. Herein, metal-nonmetal hetero-structure coupling is adopted to encompass the visible light harvesting capability and endorses the charge separation and transferring efficiency. Graphitic-carbon-nitride (CN) and bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) semiconductors were effectively incorporated into the ZnO crystal structure by hydrothermal and calcination treatments. The obtained BiOCl/ZnO/CN nanocomposite has improved visible light capability with efficient separation and low recombination rate of photo generated charges. The synergistic effect of semiconductors coupling endues BiOCl/ZnO/CN with superior photocatalytic activity up to 98.6% for Rhodamine B (RhB) and 93.5% for Methyl Orange (MO) with rate constant (k)= 0.2134 min(-1) and 0.138 min(-1) respectively. Furthermore, BiOCl/ZnO/CN sample has outstanding stability and reusability. Scavengers trapping experiments validate that superoxide and holes are the main active species in the photocatalytic reaction.