Insights into the growth of bismuth nanoparticles on 2D structured BiOCl photocatalysts: an in situ TEM investigation

The synthetic techniques for novel photocatalytic crystals had evolved by a trial-and-error process that spanned more than two decades, and an insight into the photocatalytic crystal growth process is a challenging area and prerequisite for achieving an excellent photoactivity. Bismuth nanoparticle based hybrids, such as Bi/BiOCl composites, have recently been investigated as highly efficient photocatalytic systems because of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of nanostructured bismuth. In this work, the observation towards the formation and growth of bismuth nanoparticles onto 2D structured BiOCl photocatalysts has been performed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) directly in real time. The growth of bismuth nanoparticles on BiOCl nanosheets can be emulated and speeded up driven by the electron beam (e^- beam) in TEM. The crystallinity, growth and the elemental evolution during the formation of bismuth nanoparticles have also been probed in this work.