Highly efficient flower-like Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst under simulated sunlight: Design, fabrication and characterization

In this work, the flower-like Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 was successfully designed and synthesized by a two-step process involving solvothermal and calcination methods and was used as a photocatalyst to decontaminate Rhodamine B (RhB). Different doping ratios were investigated, and the results showed that 3 mol% Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 had excellent photocatalytic activity. The RhB (10 mg/L) degradation efficiency of 3 mol% Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 was close to 100% within 40 min under simulated sunlight, which was related to the small band gap energy (2.46 eV) of this photocatalyst. Meanwhile, the flower-like Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 provided more adsorption sites for photodegradation. The active species trapping experiments exhibited that superoxide radical (O-center dot(2)-), hole (h(+)) and hydroxyl radical ((OH)-O-center dot) played vital roles in purifying RhB. Based on a series of analyses, the Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. This research suggests that the Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 possesses simple synthetic process and high photocatalytic performance, which shows a potential application for treating the organic contaminants in wastewater.