Hierarchical heterostructures of p-type BiOCl nanosheets on electrospun n-type TiO2 nanofibers with enhanced photocatalytic activity

• BiOCl nanosheets exposing {001} facets were uniformly grown on TiO2 nanofibers.
• The p–n heterostructures exhibited enhanced UV-light photocatalytic activity.
• The composites could be recycled easily due to nonwoven nanofibrous structures.

Hierarchical heterostructures of p-type BiOCl nanosheets/n-type TiO2 nanofibers (p-BiOCl/n-TiO2 HHs) were prepared by combining the electrospinning technique and solvothermal method. BiOCl nanosheets with exposed {001} facets were densely and uniformly grown on the electrospun TiO2 nanofibers. The obtained p-BiOCl/n-TiO2 HHs exhibited enhanced UV-light photocatalytic activity due to the effects of p-n heterojunctions and high surface areas. Experiments proved that the generation rate of hydroxyl radicals for p-BiOCl/n-TiO2 HHs was much larger than that of TiO2 nanofibers. Moreover, the p-BiOCl/n-TiO2 HHs could be recycled easily by sedimentation because of their nanofibrous nonwoven web structure.

p-BiOCl/n-TiO2 HHs exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity due to the p-n heterojunction effects, large surface areas, and more active surface reaction sites.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide