Synthesis, Characterization and Visible Light Driven Photocatalytic Applications of Bi2WO6 Nanoparticles Towards Congo Red Dye Degradation

Abstract

Bi2WO6 nanoparticles were synthesized using two novel methods namely amorphous citrate method and urea hydrolysis method. Phase pure Bi2WO6 was obtained in amorphous citrate method which have been ascribe to the homogeneous distribution of metal ions in the precursor due to the inherent ligating capacity of citric acid. The Bi2WO6 synthesized by urea hydrolysis method contain a mixed phase system with Bi2WO6 as major and Bi2W2O9 as minor phase. UV-visible spectral study indicated that the Bi2WO6 material exhibit significant visible light absorption suitable for photocatalytic applications. The BWO material exhibit quantum confinement effect as manifested from the higher band gap value of ~2.9 eV observed. The particle size of the BWO-AC quantum dots are found to be in the range of 6-8 nm from TEM study. The BWO material synthesized by both methods display promising photocatalytic activity for degradation of congored from aqueous sources under visible light irradiation.