Optical Materials | 2021
Highly efficient flower-like Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst under simulated sunlight: Design, fabrication and characterization
Abstract
Abstract 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\xa0mol% Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 had excellent photocatalytic activity. The RhB (10\xa0mg/L) degradation efficiency of 3\xa0mol% Dy3+-doped Bi2MoO6 was close to 100% within 40\xa0min under simulated sunlight, which was related to the small band gap energy (2.46\xa0eV) 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 (·O2−), hole (h+) and hydroxyl radical (·OH) 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.