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We herein demonstrate the uniform porous hierarchical plate-like BiOCl/2D networks Bi 2 S 3 heterostructures realized by a facile two-step hydrothermal technique. The synthesis involved an anion exchange process by reacting pre-synthesized BiOCl irregular octagonal nanoplates with Na 2 S 2 O 3 ·5H 2 O in an aqueous solution. The experiment results revealed that the 3D plate-like heterostructures were composed of internal BiOCl and outside networks interwoven by 1D Bi 2 S 3 nanorods. Interestingly, the heterostructures had almost the same thickness and the bigger length compared to the precursor BiOCl. We proposed the possible formation mechanism of the composites which involved selective ion-exchange reaction, the following Ostwald ripening process and epitaxial growth. And the crystal lattice matching between the a- or b-axis of tetragonal BiOCl (a = b = 3.89 Å) and the a-axis of orthorhombic Bi 2 S 3 (a = 3.981 Å) could be responsible for the in-situ topotactic transformation. Due to the formation of hetero-nanostructures, the unique spatial architecture features and the existence of oxygen vacancies, the BiOCl/Bi 2 S 3 composites exhibited significantly extended photo-responsive range and improved photocatalytic activity for reduction of Cr VI under visible-light irradiation. Moreover, the possible mechanism of photocatalysis process was investigated. Our work is expected to inspire further attempts for hierarchical and unconventional hetero-nanostructures with unique spatial architecture, which is very promising for photocatalysis and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of BiOBr nanosheets with tunable exposing proportion of (0 1 0) facets had been synthesized. In the synthesis process, different n -alcohols are used, which not only promote the exposure of (0 1 0) facets, but also modulate the size and thickness of these BiOBr nanosheets in a wide range. Furthermore, these nanosheets showed an efficient photodegradation activity for salicylic acid (SA) and Rhodamine B (RhB). By comparison, the sample prepared in n -hexanol possessed the highest photocatalytic activity than those synthesized in n -butanol and methanol, respectively. This excellent photocatalytic activity was attributed to the thin lamellar thickness and the exposure of (0 1 0) facets, which facilitated the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids were synthesized using a facile solvothermal method. Four series of hybrids doped with halide anions X− (F−, Cl−, Br− and I−) were produced by varying the molar ratios ( n) of X− relative to Bi(NO3)3 ( n = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) in dimethylformamide solution. The results indicated that 0.25 equiv. of different halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids, especially BiBDC-Cl(0.25) and BiBDC-Br(0.25), exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light and UV light irradiation. They also exhibited excellent adsorption performance for Rhodamine B which could be attributed to high surface areas and negative charge on the surface of the catalysts. Moreover, the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation is a photosensitization process and •O2− is the most important active species. The halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids are promising photocatalysts for removal of organic pollutants. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum-sized BiOCl in the cage-like pores of SBA-16 have been prepared by impregnation method. The average diameter of BiOCl obviously decreases to 6.1 nm due to the confinement effect from the framework of SBA-16. Compared to the bulk BiOCl, the quantum-sized BiOCl in the cage-like pores of SBA-16 possesses a larger bandgap (3.35 eV), and the quantum confinement effect simultaneously result in an elevated electron transport ability and enhanced redox ability of charge carriers. The as-prepared BiOCl@SBA-16 photocatalysts exhibit high activity toward degradation of methyl orange (MO) under simulated sunlight irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]