Solvothermal synthesis of BiOCl flower-like hierarchical structures with high photocatalytic activity

Flower-like BiOCl hierarchical structures were successfully synthesized in the presence of citric acid through a solvothermal process using methanol as a solvent. The citric acid played significant roles, which functioned as both a chelating regent and a structure-directing agent. The as-synthesized flower-like BiOCl particles were assembled by numerous BiOCl nanosheets with a thickness of ca. 15-20 nm. Importantly, such a flower-like BiOCl morphology exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than that of commercial TiO2 in degradation of methyl orange under either UV light or simulated sunlight illumination. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.