Enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity of heterostructure Ag/Bi<inf>2</inf>MoO<inf>6</inf> nanocomposites synthesized by photoreduction method

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Heterojunction Ag/Bi2MoO6 nanocomposites with different contents of the loaded Ag nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by photoreduction method. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The analyses certified that the unloaded nanosample was composed of pure orthorhombic Bi2MoO6 nanoplates and that the loaded nanosamples were composed of FCC metallic silver nanoparticles as minor phase on top of orthorhombic Bi2MoO6 nanoplates as major phase. The photocatalytic activities of pure Bi2MoO6 nanoplates and Ag/Bi2MoO6 nanocomposites were investigated through photodegradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol under visible light irradiation. They were found that the Ag/Bi2MoO6 nanocomposites exhibited significant photocatalysis better than pure Bi2MoO6 nanoplates. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of Ag/Bi2MoO6 nanocomposites was ascribed to the formation of Schottky barrier at metal-semiconductor interface.