Morphology, photocatalytic and photoelectric properties of Bi2MoO6 tuned by preparation method, solvent, and surfactant

Bi2MoO6 samples with different morphologies have been prepared using co-precipitation and hydro thermal methods. Octahedral-, spherical-, and plate-like particles have been obtained by changing some external factors including preparation methods, solvent types, and surfactants. Our results suggest that pure Bi2MoO6 phase with nanoplate morphology are easily obtained via hydrothermal preparation method using ethylene glycol solvent. The photocatalytic and photoelectric properties of these Bi2MoO6 samples have also been investigated in detail. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity is enhanced with addition of surfactants, such as Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and cetytrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The excellent photocatalytic activity is found for CTAB addition, which is nearly 100%. It may be ascribed to the specifically exposed facets structure, which is related to larger visible light absorption and improved separation of photogenerated charge carriers. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.