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Preparation of Y3+-doped Bi2MoO6 nanosheets for improved visible-light photocatalytic activity: Increased specific surface area, oxygen vacancy formation and efficient carrier separation

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Abstract

Although Bi2MoO6 (BMO) has recently received extensive attention, its visible-light photocatalytic activity remains poor due to its limited photoresponse range and low charge separation efficiency. In this work, a series of visible-light-driven Y3+-doped BMO (Y-BMO) photocatalysts were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. Degradation experiments on Rhodamine B and Congo red organic pollutants revealed that the optimal degradation rates of Y-BMO were 4.3 and 5.3 times those of pure BMO, respectively. The degradation efficiency of Y-BMO did not significantly decrease after four cycle experiments. As a result of Y3+ doping, the crystal structure of BMO changed from a thick layer structure to a thin flower-like structure with an increased specific surface area. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the presence of high-intensity peaks for the O 1s orbital at 531.01 and 530.06 eV, confirming the formation of oxygen vacancies in Y-BMO. Photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed that the PL intensity and interface resistances of composites decreased significantly, indicating reduced electron–hole pair recombination. This work provides an effective way to prepare high-efficiency Bi-based photocatalysts by doping rare earth metal ions for improved photocatalytic performance.

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Acknowledgement

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21271022).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Hong Qiu, Xiaohui Ma, Yajie Li, Yueyan Fan, Wenjun Li & Hualei Zhou

  2. College of Applied Science and Technology, Beijing Union University, Beijing, 100012, China

    Hong Qiu

  3. BGRIMM MTC Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, 102680, China

    Shujing Liu

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  1. Hong Qiu
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Qiu, H., Liu, S., Ma, X. et al. Preparation of Y3+-doped Bi2MoO6 nanosheets for improved visible-light photocatalytic activity: Increased specific surface area, oxygen vacancy formation and efficient carrier separation. Int J Miner Metall Mater 30, 1824–1834 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-023-2656-z

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