Photocatalytic activity of a Bi-based oxychloride Bi(3)O(4)Cl.

A Bi-based oxychloride Bi(3)O(4)Cl with a layered structure as a novel efficient photocatalyst was studied in the present paper. The compound synthesized by a solid-state reaction method has a band gap of 2.79 eV. The material possesses a fair visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity. Generally, the photocatalytic efficiency of Bi(3)O(4)Cl for degrading methyl orange (MO) is higher than that of anatase TiO(2) under UV light illumination. The dispersion of Ag over Bi(3)O(4)Cl leads to an obvious increase in the photocatalytic performance. The MO decolorization over Bi(3)O(4)Cl is mainly initiated by a photocatalytic process. The photocatalytic activity is discussed in close connection with the crystal structure and the electronic structure in details.