Improved Photocatalytic Activity of Hydrothermally Prepared Bi2WO6 in Degradation of Rhodamine B and Methylene Blue

Bi2WO6 photocatalysts were synthesized via hydrothermal process and solid-state reaction techniques. The results revealed that Bi2WO6 prepared via hydrothermal route were composed of numerous square nanoplates, and Bi2WO6 prepared via solid-state route were just irregular broken pieces of the material. The photocatalytic activity of both the Bi2WO6 samples prepared via two different techniques under Xe lamp of 300W was evaluated for degradation Rhodamine B (RHB) and Methylene blue (MB). The hydrothermally prepared Bi2WO6 nanoplates exhibited better photocatalytic activity. Nearly 56% of RHB and 53% of MB were degraded within 40mins respectively, which was three times better than the Bi2WO6 synthesized by solid-state reaction. The better photocatalytic performance can be credited to the geometry, porosity, and the higher surface area of the hydrothermally prepared Bi2WO6 photocatalyst.