Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by Al-doped BiOCl microspheres under simulated sunlight irradiation

Metal ion or non-metal ion doping is a simple and effective method to improve the photocatalytic efficiency. The previous research showed that metal ion and non-metal ion could enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of BiOCl through different mechanisms. Since aluminum is an amphoteric metal elemental, Al3+ doping may exhibit special properties. To study the effect of Al3+ doping on the structure of BiOCl and its photocatalytic performance, Al-doped BiOCl microspheres which were assembled by nanosheets with exposed (0 0 1) crystal plane were prepared by solvothermal method. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The degradation results displayed that Al-10.0-BiOCl with a doping amount of 10 atom% (Al: Bi = 1:10) was the optimized sample and it could degrade 91.1% of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC, 100 mg/L) within 60 min under simulated sunlight irradiation. It was confirmed ·O2– was the main active substance during the catalytic degradation of TC and the high photocatalytic performance may be mainly attributed to the large specific surface area, wide range of sunlight absorption and high charge separation efficiency. To study the effect of the Al3+ doping on the structure of BiOCl and its photocatalytic performance, novel Al-doped BiOCl microspheres assembled by nanosheets with exposed (0 0 1) crystal plane were prepared by a solvothermal method. The samples were characterized and the photocatalytic activity was evaluated by degradating tetracycline hydrochloride under simulated sunlight irradiation. The results showed that Al-BiOCl with a doping content of 10 at% (Al: Bi = 1:10) exhibited optimal photocatalytic performance, and the high photocatalytic performance of Al-BiOCl may be mainly attributed to the large specific surface area, wide range of sunlight absorption and high charge separation efficiency.