Journal of Materials Science, Vol.49, No.5, 2085-2097, 2014
Sonochemical synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic properties of Bi2-x Sb (x) WO6 nanorods
We report an efficient route for the sonochemical synthesis of Bi2-x Sb (x) WO6 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, and 2) nanorods using bismuth nitrate/antimony chloride and sodium tungstate as precursors. The products obtained have been characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photoactivities of all the samples for the Rhodamine-B (RhB) photodegradation were investigated systematically under UV and visible light irradiation. The results of the photocatalytic degradation of RhB in aqueous solution showed that 2-5 % antimony ion doping greatly improved the photocatalytic efficiency of sonochemically synthesized Bi2WO6 nanorods under both UV and visible radiation compared to its undoped counterpart. Among all the samples, the Sb2WO6 nanorods exhibited the highest photodegradation efficiency since 86 % of RhB could be photodegraded in 90 min under UV radiation. The stability of the photocatalysts was ascertained using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy.