Solvothermal synthesis of graphene/BiOCl0.75Br0.25 microspheres with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Three-dimensional BiOCl_0.75Br_0.25/graphene (BG) microspheres have been synthesized via a facile solvothermal route. The as-prepared samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) area. The photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. It was shown that the BG photocatalysts with 5.0 wt% graphene (BG5.0) exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, which was almost up to 2.3 times than that of pure BiOCl_0.75Br_0.25. The enhanced photoactivity of BG5.0 was mainly attributed to the effective light absorption, the larger specific surface areas and the more efficient charge transportation and separation.