One-step hydrothermal coating approach to photocatalytically active oxide composites.

Three-dimensional Bi(2)WO(6)/TiO(2) hierarchical heterostructures with secondary anatase TiO(2) nanoparticles grown on primary Bi(2)WO(6) microspheres have been successfully obtained by a low temperature hydrothermal method. The hierarchical Bi(2)WO(6)/TiO(2) structures displayed significantly enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity in comparison to isolated Bi(2)WO(6) microspheres and TiO(2) nanoparticles. Furthermore, this methodology is of general interest, because it can be used to fabricate other oxide heterostructures, such as BiVO(4)/TiO(2) and Bi(2)MoO(6)/TiO(2).