In situ growth of Bi2MoO6 on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets for improved visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract

A series of hierarchical reduced graphene oxide (RGO)–Bi₂MoO₆ composites were fabricated via a facile solvothermal route. In the reaction process, Bi₂MoO₆ nanoflakes were in situ grown on the graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. Meanwhile, GO was reduced during the solvothermal reaction. Such a synthetic strategy can form effective interfacial contact and strong interaction between Bi₂MoO₆ nanoflakes and RGO nanosheets, which can facilitate the transfer of photogenerated charge and hence reduce the recombination rate of excited carriers. The enhanced charge transfer properties were proved by surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPV) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The obtained hierarchical RGO–Bi₂MoO₆ composites showed more significant visible light photoactivity for the degradation of rhodamine B than single Bi₂MoO₆ and a mechanical mixture of RGO and Bi₂MoO₆. The enhanced photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the synergistic effect of improved electron–hole pair separation, boosted catalytic active sites and light harvesting.