The effect of calcination temperature on the photocatalytic performance of Bi2MoO6 for the degradation of phenol under visible light

Series Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst was successfully prepared via controlling calcination temperature by sol-gel process to enhance the photocatalytic performance. The as-prepared samples were characterized by means of XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, UV-vis and PL techniques, severally. It was demonstrated that, calcination temperature play a decisive role on the performance of Bi2MoO6. The crystallinity degree and band gap of Bi2MoO6 were obviously influenced with the calcination temperature increasing. The results indicated that the photocatalytic performance of pure Bi2MoO6 with nanosheet spherical structure prepared at 450 degrees C exhibited the highest photocatalytic degradation of phenol, being about 99.3% after 5 h visible light irradiation. To enhance the photocatalytic performance of Bi2MoO6 primarily due to the especial morphologies, enhanced light absorption performance, narrower band gaps and lower recombination ratio of electron-hole pairs.