Enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride by bulk iodine doped BiOCl with rich oxygen vacancy

[Display omitted] •Bulk iodine doped BiOCl was fabricated by a simple molten salt method.•Bulk iodine doped BiOCl synthesized by this method doesn’t utilize organic solvent and makes the surface clean, which is favorable for the adsorption of reactants.•Bulk iodine doping process not only introduced iodine atoms but also created rich oxygen vacancy in crystal structure of the bulk iodine doped BiOCl.•Photocatalytic degredation rate of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride was improved nearly 12 times after bulk iodine doping. Bulk iodine doped BiOCl were prepared through a convenient molten salt method. Bulk iodine doping process not only introduced iodine atoms but also created rich oxygen vacancy in crystal structure of the bulk iodine doped BiOCl. The as-prepared bulk iodine doped BiOCl exhibited higher visible-light absorbtion range and photocatalytic activity than the pristine BiOCl. When utilized as photocatalyst in ciprofloxacin hydrochloride photodegradation, the optimized bulk iodine doped BiOCl (BiOCl1-3xI3x) demonstrated the superior rate constant, which was 12 times greater than that of the pristine BiOCl. In addition, photoelectrochemistry testing also indicated that BiOCl1-3xI3x possessed enhanced carriers separation and suppressed carriers recombination, which ultimately leaded to the high ciprofloxacin hydrochloride photocatalytic degradation activity.