Study of photocatalytic activities of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles synthesized by fast microwave-assisted method

We present a study of photocatalytic activities of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles synthesized by fast microwave-assisted method. The photocatalytic activities of the nanoparticles were evaluated by the decolorization of methylene-blue under visible-light-irradiation. Our results show that the surface area of Bi2WO6 nanoparticles plays a major role for improving photocatalytic activity, while visible-light absorption has only a weak effect on photocatalytic activity. This suggests efficient transportation of photo-generated electrons and holes to the oxidation active sites on the surface of nanoparticles, indicating Bi2WO6 nanoparticles synthesized by fast microwave-assisted method are promising for achieving high photocatalytic activity under visible-light-irradiation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.