Sustainable molecular oxygen activation with oxygen vacancies on the 001 facets of BiOCl nanosheets under solar light

We demonstrate that oxygen vacancies on the 001 facets of BiOCl nanosheets can more sustainably activate molecular oxygen for organic pollutant removal under solar light than the TiO₂ counterparts. The oxygen vacancies on the 001 facets of BiOCl nanosheets are effectively refreshed by UV light, and are also responsible for the efficient utilization of visible light to activate molecular oxygen, accounting for their long term stability and high efficiency.