Facile Preparation of Nano-Bi(2)MoO(6)/Diatomite Composite for Enhancing Photocatalytic Performance under Visible Light Irradiation

In this work, a new nano-Bi(2)MoO(6)/diatomite composite photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) were employed to investigate the morphology, crystal structure, and optical properties. It was shown that nanometer-scaled Bi(2)MoO(6) crystals were well-deposited on the surface of Bi(2)MoO(6)/diatomite. The photocatalytic activity of the obtained samples was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under the visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. Moreover, trapping experiments were performed to investigate the possible photocatalytic reaction mechanism. The results showed that the nano-Bi(2)MoO(6)/diatomite composite with the mass ratio of Bi(2)MoO(6) to diatomaceous earth of 70% exhibited the highest activity, and the RhB degradation efficiency reached 97.6% within 60 min. The main active species were revealed to be h(+) and•O(2−). As a photocatalytic reactor, its recycling performance showed a good stability and reusability. This new composite photocatalyst material holds great promise in the engineering field for the environmental remediation.