Facile synthesis of Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticles anchored on Bi(2)MoO(6) microflowers with improved visible light photocatalytic activity.

Constructing novel semiconductor heterojunctions is emerging as one of the efficient methods to develop excellent photocatalysts. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of Bi2MoO6 microflowers decorated by Fe2O3 nanoparticles as an efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst via a simple solvothermal precipitation-calcination method. The as-prepared Fe2O3/Bi2MoO6 heterojunctions were systematically characterized by using several techniques. The photocatalytic properties of these heterojunctions were estimated by degrading rhodamine B (RhB) and para-chlorophenol (4-CP) under visible light (λ>400nm). They showed much higher photocatalytic activity than pure Fe2O3 or Bi2MoO6. The heterojunction with Fe/Bi molar ratio of 0.2 presented the highest activity. The RhB degradation rate constant was about 4.8 times or 3.8 times higher than that of Bi2MoO6 or a mechanical mixture of Fe2O3 and Bi2MoO6. The remarkable enhanced photocatalytic activity is attributed to the effective suppression of electron-hole recombination. The photogenerated holes (h+) and superoxide radical anions (O2-) were found to be the major active species. Fe2O3/Bi2MoO6 has great potential as an effective and stable visible-light-driven photocatalysts for wastewater treatment.