Hierarchical Ag/Bi2MoO6 hollow nanoboxes with high photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Well-ordered hierarchical Ag/Bi₂MoO₆ hollow nanoboxes are obtained through an artful hydrothermal method. Ag₃PO₄ nanocubes serve as growth templates and precursor sources of Ag. Ag₃PO₄ is reduced to Ag nanoparticles, which are dispersed on the nanosheet-built hierarchical Bi₂MoO₆ nanoboxes. With the investigation of intermediate products, the growth process of Ag/Bi₂MoO₆ is studied. Due to the hierarchical hollow structure and the introduction of Ag, the Ag/Bi₂MoO₆ nanoboxes exhibit enhanced visible-light absorption and photocatalytic performance compared to the pristine Bi₂MoO₆ microboxes.