Ag doped Bi2O2(WO4)xCl2(1-x) solid solution for enhanced photocatalytic pollutant degradation and photoelectrochemical water splitting to H2

Abstract Solid solution Bi2O2(WO4)xCl2(1-x) nanosheets (BWOCl) have been successfully synthesized via a facile one-step direct precipitation method for photocatalytic pollutant degradation and PEC H2 production by water splitting, which displayed much better photocatalytic performance than that of pure Bi2WO6 and BiOCl. The maximum photocurrent density of the BWOCl-1-2 photocathode at 0.25 V vs. RHE is about 1.3-fold and 2.2-fold that of the pristine BiOCl and Bi2WO6 photoelectrodes, respectively. Furthermore, Upon doping of Ag+ into BWOCl, the multi-component nanosheet AgBWOCl was formed, which further improved its photocatalytic performance. The UV–vis DRS and PEC study reveal that the appropriate band gap, high conduction band edge position and rapid transfer and separation of photoinduced charges lead to its excellent photocatalytic performance. The photocatalytic mechanism and the charge migration pathway for AgBWOCl were further proposed.