Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic properties of Au-doped Bi2MoO6 nanoplates

In this study, Bi2MoO6 doped with different contents of Au dopant were prepared by a facile chemical hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize phase, oxidation state of elements, atomic vibration, and morphology of the undoped Bi2MoO6 and Au-doped Bi2MoO6 samples. The XRD and TEM analyses revealed that all samples were orthorhombic Bi2MoO6 nanoplates. The oxidation state of Au ions identified by XPS indicated that Au3+ ions were successfully incorporated into Bi2MoO6 lattice. The photocatalytic activities of the samples were investigated through the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The results demonstrated that the Au dopant played the role in improving the photocatalytic efficiency of Bi2MoO6 nanoplates. Among them, 3% Au-doped Bi2MoO6 nanoplates exhibited the highest degradation of RhB under visible light irradiation within 240 min.