MATERIALS CHEMISTRY | RESEARCH ARTICLE

One-pot synthesis of three bismuth oxyhalides

(BiOCl, BiOBr, BiOI) and their photocatalytic
properties in three different exposure conditions
I.D. Sharma, Gagan Kant Tripathi, Vinod Kumar Sharma, Sandeep N. Tripathi, Rajnish Kurchania,
Chander Kant, Amit Kumar Sharma and K.K. Saini

Cogent Chemistry (2015), 1: 1076371

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MATERIALS CHEMISTRY | RESEARCH ARTICLE

Received: 26 February 2015
Accepted: 02 July 2015
Published: 17 August 2015
One-pot synthesis of three bismuth oxyhalides
(BiOCl, BiOBr, BiOI) and their photocatalytic
properties in three different exposure conditions
I.D. Sharma1, Gagan Kant Tripathi2, Vinod Kumar Sharma1, Sandeep N. Tripathi3, Rajnish
Kurchania2, Chander Kant1, Amit Kumar Sharma3 and K.K. Saini1*

*Corresponding author: K.K. Saini,

Materials Physics and Engineering,
CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Delhi
110012, India
E-mail: krishanksaini@gmail.com
Reviewing editor:
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Abstract: BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI have been synthesized by wet chemical route using
bismuth nitrate (Bi(NO3)3.5H2O) and potassium halides, KCl, KBr, and KI, using a
mixture of de-ionized water and ethanol as the solvent. Synthesized samples were
characterized by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution SEM to observe the crystal-
line phase and crystallite size. Effective surface areas of the synthesized samples

Petr Kilian, University of St. Andrews, UK
Additional information is available at
the end of the article
were estimated by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller studies. Photoactive properties of these
samples were studied under three types of light exposure conditions viz. UV light
from mercury vapour lamp, natural sunlight, and visible radiations from a 100-W
incandescent tungsten filament. Degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous
media was estimated spectrophotometerically in visible range from the area under
the curve with a peak at 464 nm. Kinetic constant for degradation reaction was cal-
culated assuming the pseudo-first-order degradation mechanism. It was revealed
that all the three samples show excellent degradation of MO in UV exposure with
BiOCl as the most efficient photocatalyst in these radiations. BiOBr shows highest
photodegradation performance among the three samples under natural sunlight
exposure. Overall performance of the three photocatalyst samples is much better
than the popular titanium dioxide photocatalyst.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

K.K. Saini is a chief scientist at National Physical
Laboratory, New Delhi. He obtained his MSc
and MPhil degrees in Physics from Kurukshetra
University, Kurukshetra (India) and PhD from
Delhi University, Delhi (India). Saini has taught
nanotechnology to PG students. He has about 32
years of research experience in basic and applied
fields. He delivered invited talks and lectures
on nanotechnology to M Tech/PhD students
and guided their theses. Photocatalysis for
environmental applications, clean energy, resistive
switching, and thermo-switching are his main
research areas. He is synthesizing materials and
K.K. Saini fabricating thin films by the sol–gel route. He has
developed a self-cleaning glass for architectural
and solar cell applications. He has more than 100
research publications. Saini is a member of ACS,
AVS, and RSC and a life member of MRSI, MSI,
EMSI, VLSI Society of India, and the editor-in-chief
of the Essence Journal.
Air, water, and soil pollution is one among the
serious issues of the twenty-first century as it is
directly related to human health. The problem is
seen as the side effect of societal development
which we cannot stop, but effective corrective
measures are desired to control pollution.
Heterogeneous photocatalysis utilizing solar
energy is the most economic way to tackle this
problem. Several semiconductors, in bulk and
nano forms, are being explored for the effective
photocatalysis under sunlight to degrade the
environmental pollutants. Until now, TiO2 enjoyed
the prime place due to cost and toxicity issues. But
limited activity of TiO2 under visible light is a major
hindrance. Now, layered bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX;
X = Cl, Br or I) are being explored and promising
results have been reported. Research interests
have shifted to develop modified BiOX to fight
environmental pollution efficiently using freely
available solar energy.

© 2015 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution
(CC-BY) 4.0 license.

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Subjects: Chemical Physics; Clean Tech; Environmental Issues; Materials Science; Nanosci-
ence & Nanotechnology

Keywords: photocatalysis; bismuth oxyhalides; environmental purification; visible light

activation; bandgap

1. Introduction
During the last few decades, low-dimensional nanostructured materials have attracted special interest
due to their novel properties and potential applications in photocatalysis, solar energy harvesting, elec-
tronics, and photonic devices (Ai, Ho, Lee, & Zhang, 2009; Byon & Choi, 2006; Cesano et al., 2008; Chang
et al., 2010; Cheng, Huang, & Dai, 2014; Cheng, Huang, Qin, Zhang, & Dai, 2012; Cui & Lieber, 2001; Deng,
Chen, Peng, & Tang, 2008; Fang, Huang, Yang, Wang, & Cheng, 2011; Henglein & Gutiérrez, 1983;
Hoffmann, Martin, Choi, & Bahnemann, 1995; Kudo & Miseki, 2009; Li, Wang, Yao, Dang, & Li, 2011;
Miller, Musgrave, Falconer, & Medlin, 2011; Peng, Chan, Meister, Zhang, & Cui, 2009; Pirkanniemi &
Sillanpää, 2002; Sene, Zeltner, & Anderson, 2003; Xiong, Cheng, Li, Qin, & Chen, 2011; Ye et al., 2012; Yu,
Yu, Fan, Wen, & Hu, 2010; Zhang, Ai, Jia, & Zhang, 2008; Zhang, Shi, et al., 2008; Zhu, Xie, Zheng, Yin, &
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Tian, 2002). As these novel properties are highly dependent on shape and size, the size and morphologi-
cal control of nanostructured materials become increasingly important in nanoscience and nanotech-
nology. Nanostructures are extremely desirable in photocatalytic actions (Wang et al., 2006) because
of their enhanced surface-to-volume and substrate–support ratios.

Nowadays, there is a strong demand for effective catalysts for the degradation of organic pollut-
ants to clean the environment for a healthy living. Photocatalytic degradation of these pollutants
over semiconductor surfaces, particularly oxide semiconductors, has attracted much attention to
clean atmospheric air and water in water bodies by degrading the organic pollutants present in
them by photo-aided processes utilizing solar energy. Among various oxide semiconductors, TiO2
has received much attention as a photocatalyst because of its biological and chemical inertness,
strong oxidizing power, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and long-term stability against photo and
chemical corrosion. However, due to its relatively wide band gap (~3.2 eV), it can absorb only ultra-
violet part of the spectrum, which is merely about 3–5% in the solar spectrum. Because of this inher-
ent limitation, the abundant solar energy reaching the Earth surface cannot be utilized for the
purpose. It should be noted that UV radiation by lamps or ozone production is expensive. Therefore,
research is now focusing more on those photocatalysts which can be driven by solar radiation, i.e.
light with a wavelength longer than 300 nm, generally between 400 and 700 nm. Attention has been
devoted to explore and synthesize new materials that are capable of efficient generation and sepa-
ration of photo-induced electron–hole pairs by absorption of visible light. But the search for visible
light-driven photocatalysts with high efficiency and good stability is still the issue of leading
investigation.

Bismuth oxyhalides BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) are also being considered as visible light-active photocata-
lysts. Despite the wide energy band gap, these materials are presently being explored and modified
for efficient performance under visible natural light for photocatalytic degradation of harmful organic
compounds in air and water (Ai et al., 2009; Chang et al., 2010; Cheng et al., 2012, 2014; Deng et al.,
2008; Fang et al., 2011; Li et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2011; Peng et al., 2009; Xiong et al., 2011; Ye et al.,
2012; Yu et al., 2010; Zhang, Ai, et al., 2008; Zhang, Shi, et al., 2008; Zhu et al., 2002). Photocatalytic
behavior of these materials is strongly dependent on the composition and microstructure of the
compound. Various methods, viz. hydrolysis (Shi, Wang, Fan, Wang, & Ding, 2011; Wang, Huang, Lin,
& Yang, 2008), hydrothermal (Kodama, Horiuchi, & Watanabe, 1988; Rabenau, 1985), solvothermal
(Zhang, Ai, et al., 2008), microemulsion (Cheng, Huang, Wang, & Qin, 2011), and ionothermal (Zhang,
Wen, Jiang, Li, & Yu, 2012), have been applied in the synthesis of BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) nanostructured
materials. These routes are either complex, requiring tight control over the synthesis parameters
and/or use of a surfactant, or result in poor quality end product. Xiao et al. (2012) have synthesized
oxygen-rich BiOX from B2O3 by the one-pot method, using strong acid (HNO3), whereas Deng, Wang,

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Peng, Wang, and Li (2005) have synthesized low-dimensional structures of bismuth oxyhalides from
bismuth nitrate strictly controlling the synthesis parameters by autoclaving and with the help of
surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonioum bromide.

Hydrothermal synthesis has been extensively used to prepare bismuth oxyhalides due to its versatil-
ity and ability to control particle size, shape, and crystallinity by adjusting the hydrothermal treatment
parameters. Hydrothermal synthesis generally takes place in alkaline aqueous solutions at high tem-
perature (Deng et al., 2005). The basic environment of the alkaline aqueous solutions leads to varied
composition and morphology of bismuth oxyhalides at elevated temperatures during synthesis (Deng
et al., 2005). Jiang’s group has also reportedly performed hydrothermal synthesis under acidic condi-
tions with favorable results (Wang & Li, 2003). Photocatalytic activity of the material synthesized by
hydrothermal methods is reported to be lower than those synthesized by template- or emulsion-
assisted methods. Ongoing research is yet to discover a general suitable synthesis method that pro-
duces materials with high photocatalytic performance. In this work a simple wet chemical route to
synthesize BiOX (X = Cl, Br, I) with enhanced properties has been reported. Photodegradation ability of
the synthesized materials was evaluated by estimating their degradation efficiency of methyl orange
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(MO) under UV and visible light exposure.

2. Experimental

2.1. Preparation of photocatalysts

In this work, five samples of each oxyhalide viz. BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI have been synthesized using
five different solvent compositions prepared by mixing de-ionized water (s ≤ 10−8 Ω cm−1) and etha-
nol. These solvent compositions contained water:ethanol in ratios 10:90, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and
90:10. To synthesize the first sample of BiOCl, 100 ml of bismuth nitrate solution was prepared by
dissolving 4.85gm of Bi(NO3)3.5H2O in the first solvent i.e. water:ethanol:10:90 and 50 ml of KCl solu-
tion was prepared by dissolving 0.75 g of KCl in the first solvent. Bi(NO3)3.5H2O solution is taken in a
conical flask with a Teflon-coated bit placed on the magnetic stirrer and KCl solution in a burette was
set to drop this solution into the conical flask. KCl solution was allowed to flow into the Bi(NO3)3.5H2O
solution in the conical flask at 2.5 ml/min with continuous stirring. After complete addition of 50 ml
KCl solution, 5 ml of 25% NH3 solution was added to maintain the pH of the mixture as 2.0 and stir-
ring was further continued for 10 h to ensure completion of the reaction, i.e. for the precipitation of
bismuth oxychloride. Resulting precipitates were collected by filtration on Whatman No. 1 filter
paper and washed several times with de-ionized water for complete removal of undesired water-
soluble products. Solid compound so obtained is subsequently dried at 80°C for 6 h in an electric
oven under normal atmospheric conditions. The above procedure was repeated to synthesize four
other samples of BiOCl using solvent compositions: water:ethanol as 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 90:10.
Five samples each of BiOBr and BiOI were synthesized in the similar manner using aforesaid all five
solvent compositions and KBr and KI as halogen salt solutions, respectively. KBr solutions were pre-
pared by dissolving 1.19  g of KBr in a 50-ml solution and KI solution was prepared by dissolving
1.66 g of KI in a 50-ml solution.

2.2. Structural and basic characterization

Structural analysis of the synthesized material was carried out by power X-ray diffraction (XRD) recorded
for 2θ values between 10° and 80° at a scan rate of 2 degrees per minute with Bruker D8 Advance
X-ray diffractometer which uses Cu–Kα radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å) to probe the sample. The average
crystallite size, in different samples, was estimated from the strongest XRD peak using Scherrer rela-
tion. Ultraviolet–visible light (UV–vis) absorption spectra of the solutions were recorded at room tem-
perature on SHIMADZU UV-1601: UV–visible spectrometer. Selected area scanning electron
microscopy studies are carried out on EVO-50 scanning electron microscope, equipped with an en-
ergy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). Porosity and surface area investigations were performed
to record BET/BJH curves for surface area and pore size analysis. Samples were degassed at 150°C
for 5 h in N2 gas flow before investigating surface area at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K).

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2.3. Photocatalytic activity measurements

Photocatalytic activity of the synthesized samples was evaluated by studying degradation kinetics
of MO in aqueous solution (0.02 mM) under UV light from Hg vapour lamp, visible light from a 100-W
tungsten filament lamp, and natural sunlight. Fifty milligrams of the synthesized sample (BiOCl, BiOI,
or BiOBr) was suspended in 200 ml of aqueous MO solution and exposed to respective radiations
with constant stirring. Source of light was kept at sufficient distance away from the solution to avoid
increase in temperature of the test solution by IR radiations from the source of light. About 2 ml of
MO solution was taken out after different time durations of light exposure to estimate the remaining
amount of MO in the solution. Amount of MO was estimated spectrophotometerically by recording
the absorption spectra of the extracted solution in UV–visible range (200–800 nm) and the area under
the peak at wavelength λ = 464 nm was monitored and related to the concentration of MO in the
solution. Kinetic constant for the dye degradation reaction was calculated by assuming the pseudo-
first-order mechanism for the degradation reaction as per relation C = C0 exp (−kt), where C0 and C
are the concentrations of MO in the solution before exposure and after exposure, respectively, for
time duration “t” and “k” is the degradation reaction rate constant.
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3. Results and discussion

Typical absorption curves of MO solutions exposed to light energy from three different sources for
different durations are shown in Figure 1. Areas under the absorption peak at 464 nm (in the visible
range) were related to the amount of MO present in the solution. We have recorded absorption spec-
tra of our samples under three different exposure environments (UV, 100-W lamp, and natural sun-
light). Assuming “C0” as the initial concentration (before exposure) of MO dissolved in the solution,
log (Co/Cn) was calculated where Cn = C1, C2, C3, … etc. are the concentrations of MO remaining after 1,
2, 3, … hours of light exposure. Slope of the plot between [−log (Co/Cn)] vs. exposure time (hours), fit-
ted to a straight line, is defined as the kinetic constant for the degradation reaction. Numerical value
of the kinetic constant is indicative of the photocatalytic degradation power of the sample. MO deg-
radation studies are carried out on five samples of each compound synthesized by taking five differ-
ent mixtures of water and ethanol as the solvent, as described in the experimental section above.
Highest photodegradation rates of the MO was observed for the sample synthesized with solvent
containing water to ethanol ratio as 50:50, in the particular series of BiOX compound (Figure S1 of
the supporting information). Further investigations were concentrated on these samples only, i.e.
BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI samples were synthesized using equi-volume mixture of ethanol and water as
the solvent.

Figures 2–4 show a plot for the kinetic constant of BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI samples under three differ-
ent exposures i.e. UV, natural sunlight, and visible light from a 100-W incandescent electric lamp.
Figure 5 is a comparison of the three samples under one particular type of exposure. It is clear from
these plots that all the samples show highest photoactivity under UV exposure followed by the sunlight
and light from 100-W electric lamp. Among different samples under UV exposure, highest photoactiv-
ity is exhibited by BiOCl followed by BiOBr and BiOI (BiOCl  >  BiOBr  >  BiOI), whereas in sunlight and
100-W electric lamp exposure, BiOBr exhibits higher activity than BiOCl or BiOI. Lowest photoactivity is
observed in BiOCl in sunlight and 100-W electric lamp radiations. But all the samples exhibit significant
photoactivity in sunlight or under a 100-W electric lamp, which is contrary to TiO2 photocatalyst, which
shows reasonable photoactivity only under UV exposure.

To evaluate the stability of the synthesized compounds, three samples from each compound viz.
BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI were dispersed in distilled water separately in nine beakers (three beakers of
each compound). These beakers were divided into three groups A, B, and C, containing three beak-
ers, one from each compound. Group A was exposed to UV radiations from a Hg lamp, Group B was
exposed to radiations from a 100-W electric lamp, and Group C was exposed to natural sunlight.
Exposure was continued for 10 days with five hour a day (10:00 am to 3:00 pm for sunlight expo-
sure). The compounds were collected from all the nine beakers by filtration and their photoactivities
were evaluated again by their degradation efficiency of MO, as described above. Five to nine percent
change in photoactivities of BiOCl and BiOBr was observed after the three types of exposure. BiOI

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Figure 1. Typical visible Absorption Curves of MO solution after

absorption curves for the MO degradation by BiOCl sample under sunlight
0.8 exposure for different duration
solution for degradation under
different duration.
0.6
0 Hour
1 Hour

Absorbance
0.4 2 Hour
3 Hour
4 Hour

0.2

0.0

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)
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Absorption Curves of MO solution after degradation

by BiOCl sample under 100W electric lamp
0.8
exposure for different duration

0.6

0 Hour
1 Hour
Absorbance

0.4
2 Hour
3 Hour
0.2 4 Hour

0.0

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)

Absorption Curves of MO solution after

0.6 degradation by BiOCl sample under UV
exposure for different duration

0.4
Exposure Time
0 Hour
Absorbance

1 Hour
2 Hour
0.2
3 Hour
4 Hour

0.0

300 400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength (nm)

sample exposed to natural sunlight showed ~7% decrease in photodegradation ability, whereas
about 12 and 21% decrease in photoactivity was observed in the BiOI samples exposed to a 100-W
electric lamp and UV radiations, respectively. These studies showed that BiOI had a tendency to
degrade particularly under UV light exposure.

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Figure 2. Kinetic constant 100W Lamp

studies for BiOCl under UV, UV Light
sunlight, and a 100-W electric 1.2 Sun Exposure BiOCl
lamp exposure.
1.0
0.325
0.8

- log (C/C0) 0.6

0.095
0.4
0.066
0.2

0.0

0 2 4 6 8
Exposure Time (Hours)
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Figure 3. Kinetic constant 100W Lamp BiOBr

studies for BiOBr under UV, UV Light
1.0
sunlight, and a 100-W electric Sun Exposure
lamp exposure.
0.8
0.24
0.12
- log (C/C0)

0.6

0.4 0.082

0.2

0.0

0 2 4 6 8
Exposure Time (Hours)

Figure 4. Kinetic constant 100W Lamp BiOI

studies for BiOI under UV, UV Light
sunlight, and a 100-W electric 0.8 Sun Exposure
lamp exposure.
0.207
0.6 0.123
- log (C/C0)

0.4

0.077
0.2

0.0

0 2 4 6 8
Exposure Time (Hours)

Figure 6 shows XRD patterns of BiOCl, BiOI, and BiOBr synthesized by taking the solvent ratio as
50:50. These samples resulted in well-defined XRD patterns in all the three samples. XRD peaks from
BiOCl sample appear at 2θ values: 12.1, 24.246, 26.0, 32.598, 33.6, 36.7, 41.0, 46.7, 49.8, 54.781, 55.2,
58.7, 60.548, 68.2, 75.1, and 77.6 which are assigned hkl values as 001, 002, 101, 110, 102, 003, 112,
200, 113, 104, 212, 220, 213, 214, and 006, respectively, according to JCPDS card No. 85-0861. XRD

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Figure 5. Comparison of the UV exposure characteristics

kinetic degradation curve of of the three samples
1.2 BiOBr 0.24
BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI under
BiOCl 0.325
UV, sunlight, and electric lamp 1.0 BiOI 0.207
exposure.
0.8

- log (C/C0)
0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

0 1 2 3 4
Exposure Time (Hours)

100W electric lamp exposure

characteristics of the three samples
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0.6
BiOBr 0.082
BiOCl 0.066
0.5
BiOI 0.077
0.4
- log (C/C0)

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0

0 2 4 6 8
Exposure Time (Hours)

1.0 Natural Sunlight exposure characteristics

of the three samples
BiOBr 0.121
0.8 BiOCl 0.095
BiOI 0.123
- log (C/C0)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

0 2 4 6 8
Exposure Time (Hours)

peaks from BiOI sample appear at 19.3, 29.5, 31.44, 36.80, 39.2, 45.2, 49.931, 51.2, 55, 60.5, 65.2,
69.9, and 76.5, 2θ values with corresponding hkl values as 002, 012, 110, 013, 004, 020, 005, 114,
122, 115, 016, 025, and 017, respectively, as per JCPDS card No. 73-2062. BiOBr sample shows XRD
peaks at 2θ values 10.82, 21.7, 25, 31.5, 32.82, 39.1, 44.5, 46.195, 46.815, 50.5, 56.016, 57, 61.7, 66.1,
and 69.4 with hkl values as 001, 002, 101, 102, 003, 112, 004, 200, 113, 104, 114, 212, 105, and 204,
respectively, according to JCPDS card No. 78-0348. Average value of crystallite size, calculated from
Scherrer’s formula, was 24, 32, and 30 nm for BiOCl, BiOI, and BiOBr, respectively. No unidentified or
second phase peaks were observed in the XRD pattern (Figure 6) of all the three compounds, this
confirms that they are well crystallized and having single phase.

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Figure 6. XRD spectra of BiOCl,

BiOI, and BiOBr.
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Selected area SEM micrograph of the three samples viz. BiOCl, BiOI, and BiOBr are presented in Figure 7.
SEM pictures show layered structure in all the three samples. In BiOCl and BiOI samples, the layers are
comprised of needle- and flake-like nanostructures. BiOBr crystallizes in the form of well-defined plates
with round corners and variable dimensions. There are distinct differences in platelet/particle shape and
size from the three bismuth oxyhalides. The lateral dimensions (length or breadth) of the flakes or plates
are between 1 and 2 μ and thickness around 10 nm confirming to very thin layers of the material which
results in large effective surface area per gram of the material. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) studies
have been carried out to calculate the effective surface area in the three samples confirm effective sur-
face areas of 13.639 m2/g in BiOCl, 3.44 m2/g in BiOBr, and 6.307 m2/g in BiOI. These values are presented

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Figure 7. SEM images of BiOCl,

BiOI, and BiOBr.

Scanning Electron Microscopy of BiOCl at 2.00KX & 5.00KX

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Scanning Electron Microscopy of BiOI at 1.00KX & 2.00KX

Scanning Electron Microscopy of BiOBr at 10.00KX & 20.00KX

in Table 1. Overall, all the samples exhibit large surface areas, but variations within the samples are also
evident. BiOCl showed highest surface area and BiOBr has shown minimum surface area. These observa-
tions are also supported by the SEM pictures (Figure 7). The large variation in the particle/crystallite size
has been reported by various groups (Cheng et al., 2014; Deng et al., 2008; Deng et al., 2005; Geng, Hou,
Lv, Zhu, & Chen, 2005; Jiang et al., 2010; Lei, Wang, Song, Fan, & Zhang, 2009; Li, Liu, Jiang, & Yu, 2011;
Peng et al., 2009; Wu et al., 2010, 2011).

Table 1. BET analysis of the three samples; BiOCl, BiOI, and BiOBr
Material Slope Surface area (m2/gm) Intercept Correlation coefficient C
constant
BiOCl 188.517 13.639 6.682x101 0.967108 3.821
BiOI 518.362 6.307 3.380x101 0.986445 16.338
BiOBr 2231.105 3.440 1.872x102 0.997312 12.916

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EDAX curves for composition estimation for the three samples are shown in Figure 8 and results of
EDAX investigations are summarized in Table 2. These studies reveal that all the samples are oxygen
rich, whereas bismuth to halide composition is almost stoichometeric (i.e. equal), except iodine
which is smaller than bismuth in the respective sample. These studies revealed that all the three
samples contained significant amount of carbon. To investigate the source of carbon in the samples,
few samples with only distilled water as the solvent have been synthesized. EDAX analysis negated

Figure 8. EDAX spectra of the

three samples (BiOCl, BiOI, and
BiOBr).
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Table 2. Elemental composition in different samples by EDAX analysis

BiOCl atomic ratio of different BiOI atomic ratio of different BiOBr atomic ratio of
elements elements different elements
Bi Cl O C Bi I O C Bi Br O C
19.16 17.36 27.64 35.84 26.40 18.90 30.36 24.34 25.17 24.38 26.11 24.34

the presence of carbon in this sample (Figure S2). This shows that the presence of carbon in these
samples is from ethanol in the solvent and annealing temperature of 80°C is not sufficient for the
removal of carbon from the sample.

The BiOX single crystalline material has a layered 2D structure, with symmetry of space groups P4/
mmm/ and/or I4/mmm. They grow usually in the form of platelets with the c-axis normal to the plate-
lets. Investigations have shown that they are isotropic along normal to the layers (Zhou, Ke, Li, & Lu,
2003). Each Bi atom is eight coordinated by four O atoms and four X (halogen) atoms in the form of an
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asymmetric decahedron (Ganesha, Arivuoli, & Ramasamy, 1993). Each atom (Bi, O, and X) occupies a
special position with multiplicity 2. The faces of the decahedron are two rectangles (O–O–O–O, X–X–X–X,
which are parallel to the (1 1 0) plane and eight isosceles triangles (four X–O–X and four O–X–O). The
decahedra are linked to each other by a common O–X edge along the a and b axes. Regarding the coor-
dination of O and X, each O atom is linked to four Bi atoms forming a tetragonal pyramid with the
O atom at its apex; also each X atom forms tetragonal pyramid with the neighboring Bi atoms with
X atom at its apex. These decahedra form layers along (0 0 1), which are connected by common O–X
edges and neighboring layers of the decahedra, are connected by common O–O or X–X edges. The X
atom is bonded with four Bi atoms in a planar square to form a pyramid and with its nonbonding (lone
pair) electrons pointing to the other side of the square. The [BiOX] layers are stacked together by the
nonbonding interactions (van der Waals) through the X atoms along c-axis. Therefore, the structure is
not closely packed in this direction. When one photon excites an electron from X np states (n = 3, 4, 5 for
Cl, Br, and I, respectively) to Bi 6p states in BiOX, the layered structure can provide the space large
enough to polarize the related atoms and orbitals (Keramidas, Voutsas, & Rentzeperis, 1993). These
internal electric fields in layered materials are considered to favor charge separation, which can subse-
quently induce redox reactions on the semiconductor surface and contribute to enhance the photocata-
lytic activity of these materials (Zhang, Liu, Huang, Zheng, & Wang, 2006; Zhao et al., 2013). The
permanent static electric fields between [Bi2O2] and [X2] layers can work as accelerators for the separa-
tion of electron–hole pairs upon photoexcitation to increase photocatalytic efficiency of the material
(Wang et al., 2013). This induced dipole can separate the hole–electron pair efficiently, enhancing pho-
tocatalytic activities. Further, the BiOX has an indirect transition band gap, so that the excited electron
has to travel certain k-space distance to be emitted to the valence band (VB). This k-space varies with X
(X = Cl, Br or I), and therefore different BiOX exhibit varying activities in the three lights.

In order for a photocatalysis process to occur, two principle criteria must be met: (1) absorption of
solar irradiation and (2) effective separation of electron–hole pairs with little energy loss before they
lose their input energy through recombination.

As a general rule, the photocatalytic activity of a semiconductor is closely related to the mobility
of photo-generated charge carriers and the positions of the conduction band (CB) and VB in the
photocatalyst (Jiang, Zhao, Xiao, & Zhang, 2012). In metal oxide photocatalysts, the VB is commonly
composed of O 2p. However, the VB of materials containing Bi mostly consists of O 2p and Bi 6s hybrid
orbitals and the CB consists of Bi 6p. It is reported that a broad VB increases the mobility of the
photo-generated carriers (An et al., 2007). Bismuth-based photocatalysts exhibit this phenomenon
because the Bi 6s orbital is largely dispersed, which is more beneficial to increase in the mobility of
the photo-generated carriers (Jiang et al., 2012). There are reports that the Bi–O sites in Bi3+-doped
TiO2 acted as electron traps in the photocatalytic reaction (He & Gu, 2006). Therefore, materials
containing Bi are potentially highly active photocatalysts.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23312009.2015.1076371

4. Conclusions
Solvent used in the synthesis of three bismuth oxyhalides viz. BiOCl, BiOBr, and BiOI plays an
important role to tune the photocatalytic activity of the compound. It is possible to induce vis-
ible light photoactivity in the three materials by suitable choice of the solvent. This property is
very important for the decontamination of air and water from organic pollutants by utilizing
solar energy. Highest photoactivity exhibited by a particular bismuth oxyhalide depends upon
the nature of radiations used to excite the compound. BiOCl shows highest photoactivity under
UV exposure, at the same time, BiOBr shows highest activity under visible light exposure.
Induction of visible light activity in BiOCl, a wide energy band gap material (Eg > 3.4 eV), is attrib-
uted to the layered morphology with nanostructures. These nanostructures are helpful in effec-
tive separation of the photo-generated charge carriers to minimize recombination losses. All
the materials are stable and can replace titanium oxide where visible light photoactivity is desired
and biocompatibility issues are not important.

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