Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 27;14(9):2261.
doi: 10.3390/ma14092261.

Hydrothermal Crystallization of Bismuth Oxychlorides (BiOCl) Using Different Shape Control Reagents

Enikő Bárdos  1   2 , Viktória A Márta  1 , Szilvia Fodor  1   2 , Endre-Zsolt Kedves  3   4   5 , Klara Hernadi  1   6 , Zsolt Pap  1   2   4
Affiliations

Hydrothermal Crystallization of Bismuth Oxychlorides (BiOCl) Using Different Shape Control Reagents

Enikő Bárdos et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Bismuth oxychloride photocatalysts were obtained using solvothermal synthesis and different additives (CTAB-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAC-cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, PVP-polyvinylpyrrolidone, SDS-sodium dodecylsulphate, U-urea and TU-thiourea). The effect of the previously mentioned compounds was analyzed applying structural (primary crystallite size, crystal phase composition, etc.), morphological (particle geometry), optical (band gap energy) parameters, surface related properties (surface atoms' oxidation states), and the resulted photocatalytic activity. A strong dependency was found between the surface tension of the synthesis solutions and the overall morpho-structural parameters. The main finding was that the characteristics of the semiconductors can be tuned by modifying the surface tension of the synthesis mixture. It was observed after the photocatalytic degradation, that the white semiconductor turned to grey. Furthermore, we attempted to explain the gray color of BiOCl catalysts after the photocatalytic decompositions by Raman and XPS studies.

Keywords: bismuth oxychloride; photocatalytic activity; surface tension; surfactants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The XRD patterns of the BiOCl materials, using different additives (A) and the correlations between the primary crystallite size and (102)/(110) (B), (101)/(102) (C) and crystallographic planes’ ratio.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The SEM micrographs of the obtained BiOCl catalyst materials using different additives.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The diffuse reflectance spectra of the obtained BiOCl semiconductors (A); the correlation between the band gap values and (102)/(110) (B), (101)/(110) (C) and (101)/(102) (D) crystallographic plane ratios.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The photocatalytic degradation of RhB using BiOCl materials synthesized in the presence of different additives under UV-A (A) and visible light (B) irradiation; phenol photodegradation under UV-A (C) and visible light (D) with the same photocatalysts.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The influence of the surface tension on specific surface area (red), hierarchical crystal size (blue), band gap energy (brown), and the degradation of phenol (green) and RhB (purple) under UV irradiation.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The Raman spectra of the obtained BiOCl semiconductors synthetized with different additives.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Bi4f 7/2 XPS spectrum of sample BiOCl_PVP, showing both reduced and oxidized bismuth species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhang H., Liu L., Zhou Z. Towards Better Photocatalysts: First-principles Studies of the Alloying Effects on the Photocatalytic Activities of Bismuth Oxyhalides under Visible Light. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2012;14:1286–1292. doi: 10.1039/C1CP23516H. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vajda K., Kasa Z., Dombi A., Nemeth Z., Kovacs G., Danciu V., Radu T., Ghica C., Baia L., Hernadi K., et al. “Crystallographic” Holes: New Insights for a Beneficial Structural Feature for Photocatalytic Applications. Nanoscale. 2015;7:5776–5786. doi: 10.1039/C4NR07157C. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sujuan W., Jiawei X., Jianguo S., Zachary D.H., Wen Z., Zhenzhong Y., Lin G., Xixiang Z., Yang S. Hydroxyl-dependent Evolution of Oxygen Vacancies Enables the Regeneration of BiOCl Photocatalyst. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2017;9:16620–16626. - PubMed
    1. Zou Z., Xu H., Li D., Sun J., Xia D. Facile Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of Oxygen Vacancy Rich BiOCl with {001} Exposed Reactive Facets. App. Sur. Sci. 2019;463:1011–1018. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.09.025. - DOI
    1. Wang X., Liu X., Liu G., Zhang C., Liu G., Xu S., Cui P., Li D. Rapid Synthesis of BiOCl Graded Microspheres with Highly Exposed (110) Facets and Oxygen Vacancies at Room Temperature to Enhance Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity. Catal. Commun. 2019;130:105769. doi: 10.1016/j.catcom.2019.105769. - DOI