Enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalysis of Bi₂YO₄Cl heterostructures functionallized by bimetallic RhNi nanoparticles

Abstract

Bismuth-based Sillen–Aurivillius compounds are being explored as efficient photocatalyst materials for the degradation of organic pollutants due to their unique layered structure that favours effective separation of electron–hole pairs. In this work, we synthesized Sillen–Aurivillius-related Bi₂YO₄Cl with the bandgap of 2.5 eV by a simple solid-state reaction and sensitized with rhodium nickel (RhNi) nanoparticles (NPs) to form the RhNi/Bi₂YO₄Cl heterostructure. Photocatalytic activities of BiOCl, Bi₂YO₄Cl and the RhNi/Bi₂YO₄Cl heterostructure were examined for the degradation of rhodamine-6G under visible-light illumination. Results demonstrated that the photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency of RhNi/Bi₂YO₄Cl heterostructures is higher than those of BiOCl and Bi₂YO₄Cl, attributed to the synergistic molecular-scale alloying effect of bimetallic RhNi NPs. The plausible mechanism for the degradation of rhodamine-6G and the effective electron–hole pair utilization mechanism were discussed.

Keywords

BiOCl / Bi ₂YO ₄Cl / RhNi catalyst / rhodamine-6G / photocatalysis

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