Pt nanoparticles decorated heterostructured g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 microplates with highly enhanced photocatalytic activities under visible light

Exploring an efficient and photostable heterostructured photocatalyst is a pivotal scientific topic for worldwide energy and environmental concerns. Herein, we reported that Pt decorated g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 heterostructured composites with enhanced photocatalytic performance under visible light were simply synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method for methylene blue (MB) dye degradation. Results revealed that the synthetic Pt decorated g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6 composites with Bi2MoO6 contents of 20 wt.% (Pt@CN/20%BMO) presented the highest photocatalytic activity, exhibiting 7 and 18 times higher reactivity than the pure g-C3N4 and Bi2MoO6, respectively. Structural analyses showed that Bi2MoO6 microplates were anchored on the wrinkled flower-like g-C3N4 matrix with Pt decoration, leading to a large expansion of specific surface area from 10.79 m2/g for pure Bi2MoO6 to 46.09 m2/g for Pt@CN/20%BMO. In addition, the Pt@CN/20%BMO composites exhibited an improved absorption ability in the visible light region, presenting a promoted photocatalytic MB degradation. Quenching experiments were also conducted to provide solid evidences for the production of hydroxyl radicals (•OH), electrons (e−), holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (•O2−) during dye degradation. The findings in this critical work provide insights into the synthesis of heterostructured photocatalysts with the optimization of band gaps, light response and photocatalytic performance in wastewater remediation.