Bismuth Oxychloride Nanoplates Prepared by a Single-Source Organometallic Reactant Bismuth Hexafluoroacetylacetonate and Their Excellent Photocatalytic Performance

: Bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) is well known for its photocatalytic activity and many methods are reported to prepare this layered-structure material. In this study, bismuth hexafluoroacetylacetonate Bi(C5HF6O2)3 was chosen as Bi source in the synthesis of BiOCl. Uniform BiOCl nanoplates were fabricated without any organic additive to control the morphology. In the formation process, Bi(C5HF6O2)3 acted as both reagent and soft-template agent. Moreover BiOCl nanoplates exhibited quite high photocatalytic activity. Both P25 and BiOCl nanoplates can decompose the whole RhB dye within 30 minutes, which indicates that BiOCl nanoplates are of the comparative photocatalytic performance as P25.