Fe (III) clusters modified Bi12O17Cl2 nanosheets photocatalyst for boosting photocatalytic performance through interfacial charge transfer effect

[Display omitted] A series of novel Fe(III) clusters modified Bi12O17Cl2 (Fe/Bi12O17Cl2) photocatalysts have successfully fabricated. Their chemical structure, element composition, surface feature, light response ability and photocatalytic activity were measured. The results revealed that Fe(III) clusters uniformly loaded on Bi12O17Cl2 nanosheets surface, which resulted Fe/Bi12O17Cl2 possessing improved visible light harvesting efficiency and introduced interfacial charge transfer effect in Fe/Bi12O17Cl2 photocatalyst, conducing to photoinduced charge efficiently separation. Its photocatalytic ability was performed by degrading organic dye (Rhodamine b). Comparing with the degradation rate of Bi12O17Cl2 (0.0743 min−1), that of Fe/Bi12O17Cl2 photocatalyst was obviously enhanced (0.157 min−1). Clearly, Fe/Bi12O17Cl2 photocatalyst had the improvement of photoproperty. Then, the results of trapping experiments revealed the key active species were O2− and h+. Lastly, a reasonable photocatalytic mechanism over Fe/Bi12O17Cl2 photocatalyst was shown.