Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of Bi₂MoO₆ nanoparticles prepared via a water-in-oil microemulsion method

ABSTRACT

Monodispersed spherical Bi₂MoO₆ precursors with particle sizes about 20–40 nm were successfully obtained by a water-in-oil microemulsion technique. Well-crystallized Bi₂MoO₆ photocatalysts were fabricated in control by calcined precursors at different temperatures. The particles were characterized by thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The synthesized particles were evaluated as photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. As-prepared Bi₂MoO₆ photocatalysts exhibited superior photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation. The highest MB degrading efficiency of 97.6% in 120 min under visible-light irradiation was observed for the sample calcined at 450°C. Moreover, the degradation kinetics of MB were in good agreement with pseudo-first-order kinetics.

KEYWORDS:

• Bi₂MoO₆
• microemulsion
• chemical synthesis
• photocatalysis

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant no.11204001, Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (1308085MA04), and the Higher Educational Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (KJ2013A031 and KJ2017A534). This work was also supported by Anhui University Scientific Research Fund no.201610357120, and Collaborative Innovation Research Center for Weak Signal Sensitive Materials and Devices Integration.