In-situ construction of BiOCl/Ag3PO4 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Environmental pollution caused by organic pollutants including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has attracted increasing attention. It is highly necessary to develop an effective decontamination method. Herein, we reported the construction and characterization of BiOCl/Ag3PO4 (BAP) heterojunction via hydrothermal method. The interaction between BiOCl and Ag3PO4 in BAP promoted effectively the separation and transfer of photo-generated carriers, thereby resulting in the enhanced photocatalytic activity. BAP could effectively photo-degrade organic pollutants including POPs. Superoxide radical (O-center dot(2)-) served as the most active specie in decontamination process. A possible photo-degradation mechanism by BAP was proposed.

Automated summary

Environmental pollution caused by organic pollutants, including POPs, has become a matter of increasing concern. Developing an effective decontamination method is highly necessary. In this study, we constructed and characterized a BiOCl/Ag3PO4 (BAP) heterojunction via hydrothermal method. The interaction between BiOCl and Ag3PO4 in BAP promotes the separation and transfer of photo-generated carriers, leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity. BAP effectively degrades various organic pollutants, including POPs, with superoxide radical serving as the most active species in the decontamination process. A possible photo-degradation mechanism by BAP is proposed.