Preparation of thickness-tunable BiOCl nanosheets with high photocatalytic activity for photoreduction of CO2

Abstract

BiOCl nanosheets with different percentages of exposed {001} facets were prepared by a controlled facile hot-injection technique. The synthesis was conducted using bismuth chloride as a metal precursor, octadecene as a solvent, and oleic acid, oleylamine and octadecene as morphology-control agents. The presence of trace amounts of water in the reaction system leads to mild hydrolysis. The obtained BiOCl nanosheets with highly exposed {001} facets exhibited high activity for photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to CH₄. Moreover, the thinner the nanosheets, the higher the production yield. The detailed mechanism has been studied. This work may afford a feasible protocol for the preparation of BiOCl nanosheets with high photocatalytic activity.