Persistent photocatalysis effect of black peony-like BiOCl and its potential full-time photocatalytic applications

Abstract

A new concept of a “Persistent Photocatalysis (PersP)” effect is defined for the first time according to the observation that the black peony-like BiOCl material is able to efficiently degrade Rhodamine B dye after removing visible light irradiation, just as in persistent luminescence of phosphors. The discovery of the PersP effect provides a potential solution to realize full-time photocatalytic applications. The PersP effect was justified through a series of decomposition experiments, and its potential prospect for full-time application was evaluated by experiments as well. On the basis of the results, a possible PersP mechanism of the black peony-like BiOCl material has been proposed.