Combustion synthesis of Li8Bi2(MoO4)7 and its visible light photocatalytic properties

Li 8 Bi 2 (MoO 4 ) 7 was synthesized by a one-step combustion method. The structure, morphology, adsorbance, optical and photocatalytic properties of as-obtained sample were studied by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The experimental results show that the formation of tetragonal Li 8 Bi 2 (MoO 4 ) 7 was one-pot achieved. The sample exhibits a irregular particle morphology with an average size of ~0.6   μm. The direct energy band gap calculated from the diffuse reflectance spectrum is 3.25   eV. Compared with TiO 2 (P25), as-synthesized Li 8 Bi 2 (MoO 4 ) 7 shows better visible light photodegradation performance for MB, which can be attributed to its excellent adsorbability.