Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activities of PbBi₂Nb₂O₉ Nanoplates

Abstract

Single phase of PbBi₂Nb₂O₉ nanoplates was successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method for the first time, using Pb(NO₃)₂, Bi(NO₃)₃·5H₂O, and Nb₂O₅ as the starting materials and NaOH as the mineralizer. The influences of the reaction conditions on the phases and morphologies of the products were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Diffuse reflectance spectra showed the band gap of as-synthesized PbBi₂Nb₂O₉ was 2.79 eV. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic activity for the decolorization of methylene blue under ultraviolet light irradiation of PbBi₂Nb₂O₉ plates was evaluated.

Keywords:

• photocatalyst
• hydrothermal synthesis
• PbBi₂Nb₂O₉
• nanoplate
• powder diffraction

Funding

The project has been supported by Shaanxi provincial natural science fund under grant No. 2014JM2-5056 and Education Department of Shaanxi Province under grant No. 14JK1424.