Template-Free Synthesis of g-C(3)N(4) Nanoball/BiOCl Nanotube Heterojunction with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

There are many reports on g-C(3)N(4) nanosheet and BiOCl nanosheet, but few studies on other morphologies of g-C(3)N(4) and BiOCl. Herein, a g-C(3)N(4) nanoball/BiOCl nanotube heterojunction prepared by a simple one-step acetonitrile solvothermal method is reported. The XRD results prove that the g-C(3)N(4)/BiOCl composites can be prepared in one step. SEM results revealed that the g-C(3)N(4) was spherical and the BiOCl was tubular. The HRTEM results indicate that g-C(3)N(4) has an amorphous structure and that the (100) crystal plane of BiOCl borders the g-C(3)N(4). Spherical g-C(3)N(4) has a narrow band gap (approximately 1.94 eV), and the band gap of g-C(3)N(4)/BiOCl after modification was also narrow. When the BiOCl accounted for 30% of the g-C(3)N(4)/BiOCl by mass, the quasi-primary reaction rate constant of RhB degradation was 45 times that of g-C(3)N(4). This successful preparation method for optimizing g-C(3)N(4) involving simple one-step template-free synthesis may be adopted for the preparation of diverse-shapes and high-performance nanomaterials in the future.