Yuxue Zhou

Green synthesis of flower-like Bi2WO6 microspheres as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst

Three dimensional highly hierarchical flower-like Bi2WO6 microspheres, self aggregated from nanoplates, have been fabricated in a green hydrothermal way at low temperature, without using any template or setting a certain pH value in solution. We investigated the formation mechanism and also studied the visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities of the as obtained flower-like Bi2WO6 microspheres, which showed excellent performance for the degradation of an organic dye under visible light irradiation. Such a cost effective way to obtain well-organized flower-like Bi2WO6 microspheres has potential applications in water treatment by full use of solar light.

CTAB-Assisted Fabrication of Bi2WO6 Thin Nanoplates with High Adsorption and Enhanced Visible Light-Driven Photocatalytic Performance

Two-dimensional thin Bi2WO6 nanoplates have been fabricated using a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted hydrothermal method. We investigated the proposed formation mechanism based on the crystalline structures of the thin Bi2WO6 nanoplates. The high adsorption ability and excellent visible-light driven photocatalytic activities of the Bi2WO6 nanoplates were illustrated, in view of exposed (001) facets of nanoplates possessing faster separation of photo-generated charge carriers and increased catalytically active sites. Such a cost-effective way to obtain Bi2WO6 nanoplates offers new possibilities for the design of adsorptive semiconductor photocatalysts with strengthened photocatalytic activities.