The effect of pH on Synthesis of BiOCl and its photocatalytic oxidization performance

Abstract To explore the effect of pH on the photocatalytic oxidation activities of BiOCl catalysts, the BiOCl catalysts under different pH values were prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. The as-prepared catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, HRSEM, SEM and UV–vis to find out the impact of pH values. Photocatalytic ability of BiOCl catalysts were evaluated by oxidation of gaseous elemental mercury under UV light irradiation. It was found that BiOCl catalysts prepared under alkaline condition exhibited the best photocatalytic oxidation activities. The difference of photocatalytic activity among the as-prepared catalysts can be attribute to the growth orientation of the crystal BiOCl catalyst and the adsorption capacity of elemental mercury.