Applied Surface Science, Vol.484, 1080-1088, 2019
Synergistic removal of Cr(VI) and dye contaminants by 0D/2D bismuth molybdate homojunction photocatalyst under visible light
Bi2MoO6 quantum dot (QDs-BM)/Bi2MoO6 nanosheet (N-BM) homojunction materials were fabricated by a simple method. Under visible light irradiation, the material exhibits significantly enhanced performance in the synergistic removal of heavy metal Cr(VI) and organic dye (RBY). This can be attributed to the fact that the formation of a homojunction because of energy level difference between QDs-BM and N-BM. It boosts the transferring and separation efficiency of electrons and holes, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance of the material. In addition, compared to the removal of a single heavy metal Cr(VI) contaminant, the mixing of an appropriate amount of organic dye (RBY) greatly increases the reduction efficiency of Cr(VI), and the organic dye is also completely degraded. The results of XPS proved that Cr(VI) is completely reduced to Cr(III). The results also show that the synergistic effect of the oxidation of organic pollutants and the reduction of heavy metals effectively increases the photocatalytic performance of the entire system. This is of great significance for the treatment of industrial wastewater containing heavy metals and organic pollutants.