Novel Synthesis of Bi₂MoO₆ Thin Films for Sunlight-Driven Photocatalysis

In this study, Bi<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>MoO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">6</inf> thin films were developed for use as a photocatalyst in the degradation of methylene blue in the presence of solar energy. The thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel method followed by dip coating. The effects of various sintering heat treatment temperatures on the structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the thin films were investigated. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of the semiconductor. UV-Vis absorption and reflection spectroscopy was used to obtain the bandgap of the films. The photocatalytic performance of the thin films achieved high bleaching rates. Notably, the film sintered at 450°C exhibited a higher degradation rate during the initial hours of the experiment, highlighting its potential for efficient photocatalytic applications.