Enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6 via modification with polypyrrole

Enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6 photocatalyst modified with different amounts of polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesized by 'in situ' deposition oxidative polymerization of pyrrole. The asprepared PPy/Bi2WO6 composites were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis diffuse absorption spectra. The photocatalytic activities of the PPy/Bi2WO6 samples were determined by photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine-B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The results indicated that the existence of PPy did not affect the crystal structure and the morphology of Bi2WO6 photocatalyst, but showed great influences on the photocatalytic activity of Bi2WO6. Besides, an optimal content of PPy on the surface of Bi2WO6 photocatalyst with the highest photocatalytic ability was discovered, and the obtained PPy/Bi2WO6 photocatalysts showed high stability and did not photocorrode during the photocatalytic process. The possible mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activities of PPy/Bi2WO6 samples was also discussed in this work. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.