Synthesis and photocatalytic performance of three-dimensional flower-like bismuth tungstate: Influence of hydrothermal temperature

The three-dimensional (3D) flower-like Bi2WO6 photocatalysts were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), photoluminescence spectra (PL), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Brunauer Emmett Teller surface area (BET). The SEM and TEM images show that the Bi2WO6 presents 3D flower structure with an average diameter of 2–4 μm, which is composed of two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets. The increase of hydrothermal temperature is conducive to the separation of photogenerated charges, but is adverse to the surface area. Collectively, the Bi2WO6 obtained with hydrothermal temperature 160 °C exhibits the highest degradation degree towards methylene blue (MB) (80.6% after 60 min), which is higher than that of commercial P25 (74.3%).