CTAB assisted hydrothermal preparation of Bi 2 WO 6 WO 3 nanosheets on TiO 2 nanotube arrays for photoelectrocatalytic applications

Bi2WO6WO3 nanosheets were deposited on the surface of TiO2 nanotube arrays (TiO2 NTs/Bi2WO6) via the one-pot hydrothermal method by adjusting the addition of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), and the morphology, composition and visible light response were investigated. The as-prepared TiO2 NTs/Bi2WO6 showed significantly enhanced visible light absorption, visible light photocurrent and photoelectrocatalytic removal of MO, RhB, MB and Cr(VI). The results indicated that when the addition of CTAB was 0.1 g, the Bi2WO6WO3 nanosheets with a thickness of 10 nm on TiO2 NTs showed the visible light photocurrent density of 104.89 mA/cm2, photoelectrocatalytic removal efficiencies of 75.65%, 66.07%, 95.21% and 74.18% for the removal of MO, RhB, MB and Cr(VI), respectively. The excellent photoelectrochemical performances of TiO2 NTs/Bi2WO6 were ascribed to the high visible light absorption and rapid transportation of photogenerated electrons on Bi2WO6WO3 nanosheets, and the corresponding mechanism was tentatively proposed.