Visible-light-driven 3D BiOI/BiOCl microsphere with enhanced photocatalytic capability: Performance, degradation pathway, antibacterium and mechanism.

It is well known that both of the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers and the response capability to visible light remarkably affect the photocatalytic performance. In the present work, a 3D microsphere of BiOI/BiOCl heterojunction catalyst was synthetised. The synergy of BiOI and BiOCl not only significantly enhances the transfer rate and separation efficiency of carriers, but also heightens light absorption capacity. As-prepared BiOI/BiOCl (40 wt% BiOCl) has a higher degradation efficiency on doxycycline hydrochloride (DC) (90 min, 83.0%) and super high inhibition rate (90 min, 99.92%) on Escherichia coli under visible light, compared to the two monomers. Pollutants DC is finally decomposed into CO, HO and small molecule intermediates by generated h, •OH and •O. The effects of reactive radicals follow the order of •OH radicals > h radicals ≫ •O and e radicals. The possible structures of intermediates and four possible degradation pathways involved were also discussed. In addition, As-synthetised BiOI/BiOCl has preferable reusability and excellent chemical stability. Biological toxicity experiments also verify that BiOI/BiOCl is a green and environmentally friendly composite material. This strategy provides a green, low-toxic way for the application of traditional type II heterojunction in the fields of environmental remediation and photocatalysis.