A Bi/BiOCl heterojunction photocatalyst with enhanced electron–hole separation and excellent visible light photodegrading activity

Under visible light irradiation, excited electrons in heterojunction structure of Bi/BiOCl were transferred into oxygen vacancies states, and then to the Bi metal nanoparticles, resulting in effective separation of electron–hole pairs. The heterojunction photocatalyst exhibited an extraordinary high activity in photodegradation of RhB dye and persistent organic pollutants, i.e. RhB was completely degraded in 2 minutes.