BiOCl-assisted photodegradation of Rhodamine B under white light and monochromatic green pulsed laser irradiation.

BiOCl-assisted photodegradation of Rhodamine B (Rh. B) molecules was investigated by using white light and green pulsed laser as sources of irradiation in the visible region for the first time. The dependences of removal efficiencies on catalyst dosage, incident pulsed laser energy were investigated and discussed. The dissolved oxygen was found to play an important role during the photochemical reaction. In addition the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels of Rh. B molecular were calculated using a Gaussian 03 program. These calculations were valuable to identify the possible photo-catalytic excitation process involved in degradation of Rh.B.