Synthesis and Characterization of Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Nest-Like Pr-Doped Bi2WO6 Architecture with Enhanced Visible-Light-Driven Properties

Three dimensional (3D) hierarchical nest-like Pr-doped Bi2WO6 architecture as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. Phase, morphology, surface area, atomic vibration and optical properties of as-synthesized 3D hierarchical nest-like Pr-doped Bi2WO6 photocatalyst were analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy, and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). In this research, the 3D hierarchical nest-like Pr-doped Bi2WO6 architecture appeared to be a pure phase of orthorhombic Bi2WO6 and was composed of high order uniform two dimensional (2D) square thin nanoplates. The photocatalytic performance of 3D hierarchical nest-like Pr-doped Bi2WO6 architecture played the role in the photocatalysis of rhodamine B (RhB) as dye model under visible light irradiation within 150 min. The 1% Pr-doped Bi2WO6 photocatalyst played the role in the highest degradation of 97.54% and had the highest photocatalytic rate constant of 8.13 times of pure Bi2WO6. The photocatalytic enhancement of Pr-doped Bi2WO6 was attributed to the higher surface area for adsorption of RhB molecules and the excellent absorption of more visible light.