Fabrication of BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation

Novel BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions with different BiOCl@CdS contents were prepared in situ precipitation method. The XRD, FE-SEM and TEM results demonstrated that BiOCl@CdS particles were successfully distributed on the surface of Ag2CO3, and BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions were formed. The FT-IR, UV–Vis and Raman techniques were employed to reveal their spectroscopic properties. The photocatalytic experiments suggested that the as-prepared 5%-BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions exhibited the best photocatalytic activity towards degrading RhB under visible-light irradiation. This enhancement of photocatalytic performance was attributed to the improved separation efficiency of photoinduced electrons and holes. The XRD patterns of recycled BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions after the photocatalytic experiments indicated its remarkable photostability. Moreover, a reasonable photocatalytic mechanism of BiOCl@CdS/Ag2CO3 heterojunctions was also proposed.