One-step hydrothermal synthesis of peony-like Ag/Bi2WO6 as efficient visible light-driven photocatalyst toward organic pollutants degradation

Here, we report a simple approach to fabricate 3D hierarchical peony-like Ag/Bi 2 WO 6 hybrid photocatalyst through one-step hydrothermal method with l -leucine as a template. The morphology and structure of the resultant materials were characterized by various analytical methods, such as X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The photocatalytic performance of Bi 2 WO 6 and Ag/Bi 2 WO 6 samples was evaluated by degrading organic dye and antibiotic in water under visible light irradiation. A series of results indicated that loaded Ag nanoparticles significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of Bi 2 WO 6 . In addition, the possible mechanism was proposed that the enhanced photocatalytic activity was resulted from the unique configuration of peony-like morphology that favorable for the adsorption of organic compounds and the high Schottky barriers between interface of Ag NPs and Bi 2 WO 6 , which promoted the transfer of photogenerated electrons from Bi 2 WO 6 to Ag NPs. Meanwhile, noble metal Ag can induce surface plasmon resonance leading to the better visible light absorption of Bi 2 WO 6 .