Facile Water-Based Strategy for Synthesizing MoO3- x Nanosheets: Efficient Visible Light Photocatalysts for Dye Degradation

Ahmed S Etman; Hani Nasser Abdelhamid; Youyou Yuan; Ligang Wang; Xiaodong Zou; Junliang Sun

doi:10.1021/acsomega.8b00012

Facile Water-Based Strategy for Synthesizing MoO_{3- x} Nanosheets: Efficient Visible Light Photocatalysts for Dye Degradation

ACS Omega. 2018 Feb 22;3(2):2193-2201. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b00012. eCollection 2018 Feb 28.

Authors

Ahmed S Etman^{1

2}, Hani Nasser Abdelhamid¹, Youyou Yuan³, Ligang Wang³, Xiaodong Zou¹, Junliang Sun^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 16C, Stockholm, SE 10691, Sweden.
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, P.O. Box 426, Ibrahimia, Alexandria 21321, Egypt.
³ College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road 5, Beijing 100871, China.

Abstract

Nanostructured molybdenum oxides are promising materials for energy storage, catalysis, and electronic-based applications. Herein, we report the synthesis of MoO_3-x nanosheets (x stands for oxygen vacancy) via an environmentally friendly liquid exfoliation approach. The process involves the reflux of the bulk α-MoO₃ precursor in water at 80 °C for 7 days. Electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy show that the MoO_3-x nanosheets are a few nanometer thick. MoO_3-x nanosheets exhibit near infrared plasmonic property that can be enhanced by visible light irradiation for a short time (10 min). Photocatalytic activity of MoO_3-x nanosheets for organic dye decolorization is examined using two different dyes (rhodamine B and methylene blue). Under visible light irradiation, MoO_3-x nanosheets make a rapid decolorization for the dye molecules in less than 10 min. The simple synthesis procedure of MoO_3-x nanosheets combined with their remarkable photochemical properties reflect the high potential for using the nanosheets in a variety of applications.