Enhanced photocatalytic properties of defect-rich α-MoO3 nanoflakes by cavitation and pitting effect

Zheng, Binjie; Wang, Zegao; Wang, Xinqiang; Chen, Yuanfu

Enhanced photocatalytic properties of defect-rich α-MoO3 nanoflakes by cavitation and pitting effect

2019

Zheng, Binjie | Wang, Zegao | Wang, Xinqiang | Chen, Yuanfu

For the first time, we present a novel, facile and eco-friendly engineering defect method, to produce defect-rich α-MoO3 (dr-MoO3) nanoflakes with abundant exposed reactive edge sites, by applying cavitation and pitting effect of high-power ultrasonic tip to inch-size α-MoO3 single crystals. The as-prepared dr-MoO3 nanoflakes deliver excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The degradation apparent rate constant k of dr-MoO3 is as large as 5.9 × 10−2 min−1, which is ˜6.6 times higher than commercial α-MoO3 (com-MoO3). The superior photocatalytic performance of dr-MoO3 is attributed to its rich exposed edges and slight expansion of interlayer space, which not only enhance the adsorption of H2O and OH−, provide abundant highly reactive sites, but also shorten the distance of photogenerated carriers moving to the reactive sites. This work provides new insights into the self-enhancement of α-MoO3 photocatalytic activities, which could be extended to other layered semiconductor photocatalysts.

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