Nanosize α-Bi2O3 decorated Bi2MoO6 via an alkali etching process for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Zhiqiang Hao; Lingling Xu; Bo Wei; Linlin Fan; Yang Liu; Mingyi Zhang; Hong Gao

doi:10.1039/C4RA14184A

Nanosize α-Bi₂O₃ decorated Bi₂MoO₆via an alkali etching process for enhanced photocatalytic performance†

Zhiqiang Hao,^a Lingling Xu,*^a Bo Wei,^b Linlin Fan,^a Yang Liu,^a Mingyi Zhang^a and Hong Gao^a

* Corresponding authors

^a Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, PR China
E-mail: xulingling_hit@163.com

^b Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, PR China

Abstract

Bi₂MoO₆/Bi₂O₃ heterojunction photocatalysts were synthesized through a facile alkali etching method and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. The photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. XRD, TEM and XPS results confirm that the Bi₂MoO₆/Bi₂O₃ heterojunctions were formed after the alkali etching process. The photocatalytic activity can be easily controlled by adjusting the etching time and the highest visible-light-responsive photocatalytic performance was observed on Bi₂MoO₆/Bi₂O₃ composite that was etched in 0.1 M NaOH for 45 min. Moreover, the mechanistic study suggested that the photoinduced holes played a major role for the RhB degradation and the photocurrent tests confirmed that the effective electron–hole separation on the interface of the p–n junction promotes the photocatalytic process.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA14184A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 09 Nov 2014
Accepted: 13 Jan 2015
First published: 15 Jan 2015

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RSC Adv., 2015,5, 12346-12353

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Nanosize α-Bi₂O₃ decorated Bi₂MoO₆ via an alkali etching process for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Z. Hao, L. Xu, B. Wei, L. Fan, Y. Liu, M. Zhang and H. Gao, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 12346 DOI: 10.1039/C4RA14184A

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