Bimetallic silver/bismuth-MOFs derived strategy for Ag/AgCl/BiOCl composite with extraordinary visible light-driven photocatalytic activity towards tetracycline

Abstract The rod-like Ag/AgCl/BiOCl materials were successfully fabricated by calcination of the self-sacrificial template of silver/bismuth bimetallic-organic frameworks (BMOFs) under air atmosphere in order to achieve more desirable photocatalytic activity towards tetracycline (TC). The microstructures, content, morphologies, photogenerated electron-hole pair, and photocatalytic activities were characterized for all obtained catalysts. Ag/AgCl/BiOCl obtained through the silver/bismuth BMOFs derived strategy enhanced light absorption ability in visible light region with modified energy band structures, further decreasing the recombination efficiency of photo-induced carriers with enhanced performance during photocatalysis process. TC degradation evaluations driven by visible light revealed that Ag/AgCl/BiOCl possessed superior photocatalytic activity compared to BiOCl, as well as some reported in the literature. Additionally, Ag/AgCl/BiOCl demonstrated remarkable stability during TC photocatalytic reactions, maintaining above 84% initial photocatalytic activity after second cycle. In general, Ag/AgCl/BiOCl material benefited TC degradation from aqueous solutions. Our work opens up new perspectives for advanced uniform-sized photocatalytic catalyst using bimetallic MOFs as self-sacrificial templates.