Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Charge separation and strong adsorption-enhanced MoO3 visible light photocatalytic performance

  • Chemical routes to materials
  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

This report aims to systematically study the photocatalytic properties of α-MoO3 and h-MoO3. Here, α-MoO3 nanorods and h-MoO3 hexagonal prism were successfully synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. The products were characterized in detail, and the results showed that the products are very pure with excellent morphology. The photocatalytic properties of MoO3 were evaluated via methylene blue and rhodamine B dyes as well as tetracycline. The results indicate that the photocatalytic efficiency of α-MoO3 is better than that of h-MoO3, and α-MoO3 has the best photocatalytic activities at 24 h because of the synergistic adsorption and photocatalysis and dye-sensitized mechanism. We further proposed a charge separation model between (002) and (00_2) polar surfaces via density functional theory computation to explain the enhanced photocatalytic activities. The excellent photocatalytic efficiency of α-MoO3 suggests that it can be used for photodegradation of wastewater.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cai ZQ, Hao XD, Sun XB, Du PH, Liu W, Fu J (2019) Highly active WO3@anatase-SiO2 aerogel for solar-light-driven phenanthrene degradation: Mechanism insight and toxicity assessment. Water Res 162:369–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Chauhan A, Islam A, Javed H, Kumar S (2019) Facile fabrication of Amberlite XAD-16 with dipicolylamine for remediation of industrial wastewater containing lead and copper: Isotherm, kinetics, thermodynamics and selectivity studies. Microchem J 146:606–613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhao YJ, Wang CY, Wang S et al (2018) Magnetic mesoporous TiO2 microspheres for sustainable arsenate removal from acidic environments. Inorg Chem Front 5:2132–2139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. GracePavithra K, Jaikumar V, Kumar PS, SundarRajan P (2019) A review on cleaner strategies for chromium industrial wastewater: present research and future perspective. J Clean Prod 228:580–593

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fang Z, Hu YY, Cheng JH, Chen YC (2019) Continuous removal of trace bisphenol A from water by high efficacy TiO2 nanotube pillared graphene-based macrostructures in a photocatalytically fluidized bed. Chem Eng J 372:581–589

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang XN, Yi JJ, Chen HX et al (2018) Construction of a few-layer g-C3N4/α-MoO3 nanoneedles all-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalytic system for photocatalytic degradation. J Energy Chem. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2018.01.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ma Y, Wang XL, Jia YS, Chen XB, Han HX, Li C (2014) Titanium dioxide-based nanomaterials for photocatalytic fuel generations. Chem Rev 114:9987–10043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Reece SY, Nocera DG (2011) Wireless solar water splitting using silicon-based semiconductors and earth-abundant catalysts. Science 334:645. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1209816

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hu S, Qiao PZ, Zhang LP et al (2018) Assembly of TiO2 ultrathin nanosheets with surface lattice distortion for solar-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Appl Catal B-Environ 239:317–323

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Menon SS, Hafeez HY, Gupta B et al (2019) ZnO:InN oxynitride: A novel and unconventional photocatalyst for efficient UV-visible light driven hydrogen evolution from water. Renew Energ 141:760–769

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Babu B, Harish VVN, Koutavarapu R, Shim J, Yoo K (2019) Enhanced visible-light-active photocatalytic performance using CdS nanorods decorated with colloidal SnO2 quantum dots: optimization of core-shell nanostructure. J Ind Eng Chem 76:476–487

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Tian J, Sang YH, Yu GW, Jiang HD, Mu XN, Liu H (2013) A Bi2WO6 -based hybrid photocatalyst with broad spectrum photocatalytic properties under UV, visible, and near-infrared irradiation. Adv Mater 25:5074. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201302014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Liu QW, We YW, Zhang JW et al (2019) Plasmonic MoO3-x, nanosheets with tunable oxygen vacancies as efficient visible light responsive photocatalyst. Appl Surf Sci 490:395–402

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Maiti P, Guha P, Singh R, Dash JK, Satyam PV (2019) Optical band gap, local work function and field emission properties of MBE grown beta-MoO3 nanoribbons. Appl Surf Sci 476:691–700

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Pandey G, Marimuthu M, Kanagavalli P, Ravichandiran V, Balamurugan K, Veerapandian M (2019) Chitosanylated MoO3-Ruthenium(II) nanocomposite as biocompatible probe for bioimaging and herbaceutical detection. Acs Biomater Sci Eng 5:3606–3617

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhang XJ, Fu CL, Li JL, Yao C, Lu T, Pan LK (2017) MoO3/reduced graphene oxide composites as anode material for sodium ion batteries. Ceram Int 43:3769–3773

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mardare CC, Hassel AW (2014) Investigations on bactericidal properties of molybdenum tungsten oxides combinatorial thin film material libraries. Acs Comb Sci 16:631–639

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hu ZS, Zhou JB, Zhang Y, Liu W, Zhou J, Cai WQ (2018) The formation of a direct Z-scheme Bi2O3/MoO3 composite nanocatalyst with improved photocatalytic activity under visible light. Chem Phys Lett 706:208–214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Tang GG, Zhang FX, Xu J (2019) Facile synthesis of novel ultrathin -MoO3 square nanosheets with excellent adsorptive capacity and photocatalytic performance for efficient treatment of Rhodamine B. Micro Nano Lett 14:416–419

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bate NS, Shi HF, Chen L et al (2017) Micelle directing synthesis of the Ag-doped WO3 and MoO3 composite for the photocatalytic water oxidation and organic dyes adsorption. Chem Asian J. https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.201700951

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Chiang TH, Ho PY, Chiu SY, Chao AC (2015) Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of alpha-MoO3 particles utilizing different polyol monomers under visible light irradiation. J Alloy Compd 651:106–113

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Liu B, Ma L, Ning LC et al (2015) Charge separation between polar 111 surfaces of CoO octahedrons and their enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. ACS Appl Mater Inter 7:6109–6117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Xu YD, Xie LL et al (2013) Hydrothermal synthesis of hexagonal MoO3 and its reversible;electrochemical behavior as a cathode for Li-ion batteries. Electron Mater Lett 9:693–696

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Chen YP, Lu CL, Xu L, Ma Y, Hou WH, Zhu JJ (2010) Single-crystalline orthorhombic molybdenum oxide nanobelts: synthesis and photocatalytic properties. CrystEngComm 12:3740–3747

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Phuruangrat A, Cheed-Im U, Thongtem T, Thongtem S (2016) High visible light photocatalytic activity of Eu-doped MoO3 nanobelts synthesized by hydrothermal method. Mater Lett 172:166–170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Phuruangrat A, Cheed-Im U, Thongtem T, Thongtem S (2016) Influence of Gd dopant on photocatalytic properties of MoO3 nanobelts. Mater Lett 173:158–161

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Yang XF, Ding HY, Zhang D et al (2011) Hydrothermal synthesis of MoO3 nanobelt-graphene composites. Cryst Res Technol 46:1195–1201

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Bhattacharya S, Dinda D, Saha SK (2015) Role of trap states on storage capacity in a graphene/MoO3 2D electrode material. J Phys D Appl Phys 48:22. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/48/14/145303

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Ama OM, Kumar N, Adams FV, Ray SS (2018) Efficient and cost-effective photoelectrochemical degradation of dyes in wastewater over an exfoliated graphite-MoO3 nanocomposite electrode. Electrocatalysis: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-018-0471-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Morales-Luna M, Tomás SA, Arvizu MA, Pérez González M, Campos-Gonzalez E (2017) The evolution of the Mo5+ oxidation state in the thermochromic effect of MoO3 thin films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering. J Alloy Compd 722:938–945

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Alsaif MMYA, Field MR, Daeneke T, Chrimes AF, Ou JZ (2016) Exfoliation solvent dependent plasmon resonances in two dimensional sub-stoichiometric molybdenum oxide nanoflakes. Acs Appl Mater Inter 8:3482. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b12076

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Alsaif MMYA, Latham K, Field MR et al (2013) Tunable plasmon resonances in two-dimensional molybdenum oxide nanoflakes. Adv Mater 26:3931–3937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wang Q, Cai CY, Wang MY et al (2018) Efficient photocatalytic degradation of malachite green in seawater by the hybrid of zinc-oxide nanorods grown on three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide(RGO)/Ni foam. Materials. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11061004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Yang XF, Ding HY, Zhang D, Yan XH et al (2011) Hydrothermal synthesis of MoO3 nanobelt-graphene composites. Cryst Res Technol 46:1195–1201

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Chithambararaj A, Rajeswari Yogamalar N, Bose AC et al (2016) Hydrothermally synthesized h-MoO3 and alpha-MoO3 nanocrystals: new findings on crystal-structure-dependent charge transport. Cryst Growth Des. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.5b01571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Li ZC, Ma JJ, Zhang B, Song CC, Wang DB (2017) Crystal phase- and morphology-controlled synthesis of MoO3 materials. CrystEngComm 19:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Xu MZ, Jia SL, Chen C et al (2018) Microwave-assistant hydrothermal synthesis of SnO2@ZnO hierarchical nanostructures enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation. Mate Res Bull 106:74–80

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Rathnasamy R, Alagan V (2018) A facile synthesis and characterization of α-MoO3 nanoneedles and nanoplates for visible-light photocatalytic application. Physica E. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physe.2018.05.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Jin YJ, Li N, Liu HQ et al (2014) Highly efficient degradation of dye pollutants by Ce-doped MoO\r3\r catalyst at room temperature. Dalton T 43:12860. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4dt01012d

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Feng B, Wu ZY, Liu JS et al (2017) Combination of ultrafast dye-sensitized-assisted electron transfer process and novel Z-scheme system: AgBr nanoparticles interspersed MoO3 nanobelts for enhancing photocatalytic performance of RhB. Appl Catal B-Environ 206:242–251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Dumrongrojthanath P, Phuruangrat A, Thipkonglas S, Kuntalue B, Thongtem S, Thongtem T (2018) Synthesis and characterization of Ce-doped MoO3 nanobelts for using as visible-light-driven photocatalysts. Superlattice Microstruct 120:241–249

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Jin YJ, Li N, Liu HQ et al (2014) Highly efficient degradation of dye pollutants by Ce-doped MoO3 catalyst at room temperature. Dalton T 43:12860–12870

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Li YP, Huang LY, Xu JB et al (2015) Visible-light-induced blue MoO3-C3N4 composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Mater Res Bull 70:500–505

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Huang LC, Fang WC, Yang Y et al (2018) Three-dimensional MoO3 nanoflowers assembled with nanosheets for rhodamine B degradation under visible light. Mater Res Bull. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2018.08.036

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 61701402, 61804125), the General Program for International Science and Technology Cooperation Projects of Shaanxi Province (Grants 2019KW-029) and the Key Program for International Science and Technology Cooperation Projects of Shaanxi Province (Grants 2018KWZ-08). Xi’an Science and Technology Plan Project (Grants 2019218214GXRC018CG019-GXYD18.6).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi′an, 710127, People’s Republic of China

    Xin Guan, Yanbing Ren, Sifan Chen, Junfeng Yan, Hongyi Zhao, Wu Zhao, Zhiyong Zhang, Zhouhu Deng, Yunyao Zhang, Yang Dai & Leideng Zou

  2. School of Physics, Northwest University, Xi′an, 710127, People’s Republic of China

    Gang Wang

  3. Transfercenter Sustainable Electrochemistry, Saarland University, 66125, Saarbrucken, Germany

    Ruiyong Chen

  4. Department of Physics and Oxide Research Center, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yongin, 17035, Republic of Korea

    Chunli Liu

Authors
  1. Xin Guan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yanbing Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sifan Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Junfeng Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hongyi Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Wu Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Zhiyong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Zhouhu Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Yunyao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Yang Dai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Leideng Zou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Ruiyong Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Chunli Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

XG helped in conception, experimental design, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing original draft, writing review and editing, carrying out measurements. YR contributed to modeling and calculation. SC was involved in formal analysis, investigation, writing review and editing. JY helped in funding acquisition, project administration, writing review and editing. GW contributed to funding acquisition, investigation, writing review and editing. HZ was involved in conceptualization, experimental design, writing review and editing. WZ helped in resources, carrying out measurements. ZZ project administration. ZD, YZ, YD contributed to experimental design, writing review and editing. LZ helped in writing review and editing. RC, CL were involved in conception, project administration.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Junfeng Yan or Gang Wang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

They authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOC 8070 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guan, X., Ren, Y., Chen, S. et al. Charge separation and strong adsorption-enhanced MoO3 visible light photocatalytic performance. J Mater Sci 55, 5808–5822 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-04418-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-04418-8

Search

Navigation