In situ fabrication of Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x homojunction photocatalyst for simultaneous photocatalytic phenol degradation and Cr(VI) reduction

In this work, we designed a novel Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x homojunction photocatalyst and successfully fabricated by a facile solvothermal-calcination approach. Experimental characterizations indicated that the formation of Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x homojunction was caused by controlling oxygen vacancies formation. Such Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x homojunction exhibits about 240 times higher photocatalytic activity towards phenol degradation as compared with pure Bi2MoO6 under visible light irradiation. Similarly, for a co-existed phenol and Cr(VI) model system, Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x-catalyzed the photodegradation of phenol and the reduction of Cr(VI) simultaneously occur, and Bi2MoO6/Bi2MoO6-x homojunction also displays a superior photocatalytic activity, that is 4 and 8 times higher than pure Bi2MoO6, respectively. The remarkably boosted photocatalytic activity could be attributed primarily to the highly efficient separation of photogenerated electrons/holes due to the homojunction and the synergistic effect between phenol oxidation and Cr(VI) reduction. Thus, the present insight provides an effective strategy for designing and preparing highly active photocatalysts with the incorporation of oxygen vacancies modulation and applying for environmental remediation.