Grinding preparation of 2D/2D g-C 3 N 4 /BiOCl with oxygen vacancy heterostructure for improved visible-light-driven photocatalysis

A novel 2D/2D g-C 3 N 4 /BiOCl (CN/BOC) heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by grinding appropriate amounts of CN, Bi(NO 3 ) 3 ·5H 2 O, glacial acetic acid and KCl at room temperature. The porous CN nanosheets not only facilitate the in situ nucleation and growth of BOC to form thin nanosheets and constitute an intimate contact interface, but also introduce more oxygen vacancies (OVs) in the grinding process. The 2D/2D CN/BOC heterojunction had a good interface and generates a built-in electric field, which can improve the separation of e − and h + . The synergistic effect of the heterostructure and OVs made the photocatalyst have significantly better performance than CN and BOC alone under visible light. The most efficient CN/BOC-5 could achieve a tetracycline (TC) degradation rate of 89.8% within 2 h, which was 1.9 and 1.2 times faster than CN and BOC, respectively. It catalyzed the reduction of CO 2 to CO at a rate of 2.00 μ mol h −1 g −1 , 1.1 and 3.2 times faster than CN and BOC, respectively. The mechanism for the photocatalysis of CN/BOC-5 was revealed. It was confirmed that the efficiency of photo-induced carrier separation and visible-light photo-absorption were both considerably increased by the synergistic interaction between OVs and 2D/2D heterojunction. This research may open up new possibilities for the logical design of efficient photocatalysts through combining 2D/2D heterojunctions with OVs for environmental remediation. Graphical Abstract