Facile synthesizing Z-scheme Bi₁₂O₁₅Cl₆/InVO₄ heterojunction to effectively degrade pollutants and antibacterial under light-emitting diode light

The design of a photocatalytic system with Z-scheme heterojunction is the key to charge separation. In this paper, a simple synthesis method was used to prepare Bi₁₂O₁₅Cl₆/InVO₄ photocatalyst. The synthesized photocatalyst can effectively degrade pollutants, and inactivate bacteria under LED light irradiation. The optimal ratio of 30% Bi₁₂O₁₅Cl₆/InVO₄ material effectively degraded 78.85% of TC and 97.83% of RhB within 90 min and inactivated Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in 40 min. This improvement in photocatalytic performance is mainly due to the formation of a Z-scheme heterojunction between Bi₁₂O₁₅Cl₆ and InVO₄, which produces effective charge separation and improves photocatalytic degradation and antibacterial activity. The capture experiment revealed the main active substances. The effects of catalyst dosage and pollutant concentration were investigated in details. The intermediates of TC degradation were identified by mass spectrometry (MS), and the possible photocatalytic degradation pathway was proposed. Capture experiment and related measurements proposed the Z-scheme mechanism. This work emphasizes the importance of heterogeneous structure construction and proposes feasible solutions for the rational design of catalysts with photodegradation and antibacterial properties under LED light.