LAUSR

In this study, we report a flower-like Bi$$_{5}$$5O$$_{7}$$7I photocatalyst with a 41% gaseous nitride oxide (NO) removal efficiency under visible light through the in situ thermal treatment of the hierarchical architecture BiOI synthesized using a facile hydrothermal process. The UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and photocurrent experiments showed that the absorption band edge and photo-induced electron–hole pairs separation efficiency of Bi$$_{5}$$5O$$_{7}$$7I were negative than that of BiOI, whereas the as-prepared Bi$$_{5}$$5O$$_{7}$$7I exhibited excellent and stable visible light photocatalytic performance for NO removal as compared with original BiOI and P25. The results of electron spin resonance spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations suggested that the prominent visible light photocatalytic activity of obtained Bi$$_{5}$$5O$$_{7}$$7I has been attributed to the proper electron band structure which oxidizes the O$$_{2}$$2 molecule to $$\cdot $$·OH radicals with two electrons in the conduction band.