Crystal facet and Na-doping dual engineering ultrathin BiOCl nanosheets with efficient oxygen activation for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) based on semiconductors offers a sustainable and promising way for environmental remediation. However, the photocatalytic performance currently suffers from weak light-harvesting ability, rapid charge combination and a lack of accessible reactive sites. Ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) materials are ideal candidates to overcome these problems and become hotpots in the research fields. Herein, we demonstrate an ultrathin (<4 nm thick) Na-doped BiOCl nanosheets with {001} facets (Na-BOC-001) fabricated via a facile bottom-up approach. Because of the synergistic effect of highly exposed active facets and optimal Na doping on the electronic and crystal structure, the Na-BOC-001 showed an upshifted conduction band (CB) with stronger reduction potential for O2 activation, more defective surface for enhanced O2 adsorption, as well as the highest visible-light driven charge separation and transfer ability. Compared with the bulk counterparts (BOC-010 and BOC-001), the largest amount of active species and the best photocatalytic performance for the tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) degradation were achieved for the Na-BOC-001 under visible-light irradiation, even though it had slightly weaker visible-light absorption ability. Moreover, the effect of the Na doping and crystal facet on the possible pathways for TC degradation was investigated. This work offers a feasible and economic strategy for the construction of highly efficient ultrathin 2D materials.