Solvothermal synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production of Bi/Bi2MoO6 co-sensitized TiO2 nanotube arrays

Abstract Bi/Bi2MoO6/TiO2 NTs photocatalysts were synthesized on the basis of TiO2 NTs by a solvothermal method using glucose as the reducing agent. The removal of organic dyes such as RhB and MB and heavy metal ions like Cr(VI) were used to simulate industrial wastewater for the photocatalytic activity assessment of Bi/Bi2MoO6/TiO2 NTs. Na2S/Na2SO3 solution was used as sacrificial agent to study the photocatalytic hydrogen generation performance of samples. The results showed that Bi3+ was successfully reduced to metal Bi and deposited on the surface of Bi2MoO6. The removal efficiencies of RhB, MB and Cr(VI) reached 73.21%, 92.98% and 70.54%, respectively, which confirmed the excellent photocatalytic activity of samples. The photocatalytic hydrogen production performance of the sample was also remarkable and the hydrogen generation rate reached 173.41 μmol·h−1·cm−2. The active species and photocatalytic mechanism of pollutant degradation and hydrogen generation were proposed based on the photoelectrochemical data. The excellent photocatalytic performances of Bi/Bi2MoO6/TiO2 NTs will exhibit prospective guidance for the preparation and photocatalytic water splitting of bismuth-based photocatalysts.