Ag–BiOCl nanocomposites prepared by the oxygen vacancy induced photodeposition method with improved visible light photocatalytic activity

• Vis–Ag–BiOCl nanocomposite has been synthesized by the visible light deposition method.
• Vis–Ag–BiOCl exhibits a higher photocatalytic activity and charge separation efficiency.
• The successful preparation of Vis–Ag–BiOCl could be attributed to the oxygen vacancies.

Ag–BiOCl nanocomposites were prepared through a visible light induced photodeposition method by taking the advantage of oxygen vacancy in {001} facets of BiOCl. The prepared Ag–BiOCl (Vis–Ag–BiOCl) could efficiently degrade methyl orange (MO) and oxidize NO under visible light irradiation. Moreover, it exhibited an enhanced visible light driven photocatalytic activity compared to Ag–BiOCl (UV–Ag–BiOCl) nanocomposites prepared by the traditional UV light photodeposition method, even that the latter showed a much stronger visible light absorption ability. Photocurrent and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests indicated that the more efficient photoinduced charge separation and transfer in Vis–Ag–BiOCl could be attributed to the improvement of the visible light photocatalytic activity.