Multi-factors on photocatalytic properties of Y-doped Bi2WO6 crystallites prepared by microwave-hydrothermal method

Different contents of Y-doped Bi2WO6 crystallites were synthesized by a microwave-hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic properties with different contents of Y-doped Bi2WO6 crystallites were studied. The Y-doped Bi2WO6 crystallites were also characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM and UV-vis DRS and the multi-factors on photocatalytic properties of Y-Doped Bi2WO6 crystallites were discussed. The results indicate that Y3+ replacing Bi3+ enters into the Bi2WO6 lattice, producing a degree of Bi2WO6 lattice distortion. It also has an impact on the crystallinity of Bi2WO6 and the band gap is from 2.49 eV to 2.71 eV. The photocatalytic results show that when the content of Y doping becomes 10%, the degradation rate of rhodamine B is above 90% after 40 min irradiation, which shows that doping the proper rare earth ions is conducive to the photocatalytic properties of Bi2WO6 crystallites.