Non-noble metal thickness-tunable Bi2MoO6 nanosheets for highly efficient visible-light-driven nitrobenzene reduction into aniline

High efficiency and selectivity is significant for photocatalytic organic transformation. In this work, the efficient photocatalytic reduction of nitrobenzene into aniline is achieved on non-noble metal thickness-tunable bismuth molybdate nanosheets prepared by the simple hydrothermal reaction. The photocatalytic activity of Bi2MoO6 strongly depends on the nanosheet thickness. The Bi2MoO6 monolayer displays remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity for selective reduction of nitrobenzene than bilayer, multilayers and bulk Bi2MoO6 due to the unique properties of 2D materials with the large fraction of surface atoms and the ultrafast charge separation. The obtained conversion rate of 487.5 μmol g−1. h-1 (>95% conversion and >99% selectivity within 60 min reaction) on Bi2MoO6 monolayers is 5 times higher than that of Bi2MoO6 bulk, far exceeding most of common photocatalysts up to date. This work provides a thickness dependent nanosheet concept in the design of newly highly efficient catalysts for the photocatalytic reduction conversion of nitroarenes to anilines.