Jahed-Jaafargolikhanlo, MahtabHabibi-Yangjeh, AzizPournemati, KhadijehAkinay, Yuksel2025-05-102025-05-1020232468-023010.1016/j.surfin.2023.1032152-s2.0-85165609131https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfin.2023.103215https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14720/10439Pournemati, Khadijeh/0009-0001-9983-6419; Akinay, Yuksel/0000-0002-6171-6307In the present study, we combined brown TiO2 (denoted as TiO2-x) with Bi12O15Cl6 and BiOCl components via a one-pot hydrothermal route preceded by calcination at 500 OC. The resultant novel photocatalyst was charac-terized by TEM, SEM, XRD, XPS, EDX, UV-vis DRS, FTIR, Raman, PL, photocurrent density, BET, and EIS ana-lyses. The quantum dots (QDs)-sized TiO2-x/Bi12O15Cl6/BiOCl nanocomposite exhibited a significant photocatalytic ability upon visible light for the photodegradation of tetracycline (TC) with the rate constant of 379 x 10-4 min-1, which was 28.3 and 9.92 times as high as pristine TiO2 and TiO2,-xrespectively. Moreover, compared with TiO2, the optimum photocatalyst presented boosted activity of 25.3 and 23.7 times in the deg-radations of rhodamine B and Fuchsine, and 23.0 folds in the reduction of Cr (IV) to Cr (III). The photo-luminescence, electrochemical, and textural analyses showed that the boosted activity of ternary TiO2-x/ Bi12O15Cl6/BiOCl photocatalyst is attributed to impressive separation and transfer of the photoinduced charges, and high surface area. The improved charge separation mechanism was devoted to developing tandem n-n heterojunctions amongst TiO2-x, Bi12O15Cl6, and BiOCl counterparts, as well as the construction of a QDs-sized photocatalyst. Moreover, the photocatalyst displayed considerable reusability in the TC degradation reaction. At last, the biocompatibility of the treated solution over the optimum TiO2-x/Bi12O15Cl6/BiOCl nanocomposite was proved by the growth of wheat seeds.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessTandem N -N HeterojunctionTetracyclineVisible -Light -Induced PhotocatalysisPhotodegradationTio2-XBioclArticle41Q1Q1WOS:001046946500001