RhB-sensitized effect on the enhancement of photocatalytic activity of BiOCl toward bisphenol-A under visible light irradiation

•BiOCl with narrow band gap energy was synthesized successfully.•The addition of RhB could enhance the reaction rate of BPA prominently.•RhB exhibited photosensitized effect in BPA degradation with as-prepared BiOCl.•The main active species involved in BPA degradation was h+ and O2−.•The double-electron-source reaction mechanism was proposed.

A bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) photocatalyst with visible light activity was successfully synthesized using NaBiO3 and HCl as raw materials. The crystal structure, morphology, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the as-synthesized BiOCl were characterized. Rhodamine B (RhB), as a photosensitizer, can remarkably enhance light utilization and improve the photocatalytic activity of BiOCl toward bisphenol-A (BPA). The effects of BiOCl dosage, RhB dosage, BPA initial concentration and initial solution pH on the photocatalytic performance of BiOCl were studied. The photocatalytic oxidation of BPA followed pseudo first-order kinetics, and the highest photodegradation efficiency of BPA was observed using a BiOCl dosage of 1.5 g L−1 and RhB dosage of 5 mg L−1 in BPA solution (c0 = 20 mg L−1, pH = 6) under visible light irradiation for 30 min. Under these conditions, the reaction rate constant of the system was 11.3 times greater than that of BiOCl without RhB. The superior photocatalytic activity observed was attributed to the sensitization effect of RhB. Experimental scavenging results revealed that h+ and O2− are the main active species involved in BPA degradation. The as-synthesized BiOCl exhibited good photocatalytic stability during photodegradation, which suggests promising prospects in the practical application of organic pollutant photodegradation.

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