Polymer-derived porous Bi2WO6/SiC(O) ceramic nanocomposites with high photodegradation efficiency towards Rhodamine B

Polymer-derived porous Bi 2 WO 6 /SiC(O) nanocomposites were prepared by a simple mechanical mixing of Bi 2 WO 6 nanopowders with a polyorganocarbosilane, namely allylhydridopolycarbosilane (AHPCS), followed by pyrolysis of the resulting blend at 700 °C for 2 h. The Bi 2 WO 6 nanopowders were synthesized by the reaction between Bi(NO 3 ) 3 ·5H 2 O and Na 2 WO 4 and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The cross-linking and polymer-to-ceramic transformation of the physically blended Bi 2 WO 6 /AHPCS were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TEM studies revealed that the final ceramic composite is comprised of Bi 2 WO 6 nanoparticles homogeneously embedded in a polymer-derived SiC(O) matrix. Nitrogen sorption isothermal analysis showed the meso-macroporous feature of resultant Bi 2 WO 6 /SiC(O) nanocomposites. Finally, the porous Bi 2 WO 6 /SiC(O) composites show a high photodegradation efficiency (ca. 90%) towards a model organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV irradiation. Therefore, the synthesized ceramic composite has to be considered as a promising candidate material for purification of water contaminated with organic dyes.