Piezocatalytic performance of Fe_(2)O_(3)−Bi_(2)MoO_(6) catalyst for dye degradation

A Fe_(2)O_(3)−Bi_(2)MoO_(6) heterojunction was synthesized via a hydrothermal method.Scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,energy-dispersive X-ray,powder X-ray diffraction,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultra-violet−visible near-infrared spectrometry were performed to measure the structures,morphologies and optical properties of the as-prepared samples.The various factors that affected the piezocatalytic property of composite catalyst were studied.The highest rhodamine B degradation rate of 96.6%was attained on the 3% Fe_(2)O_(3)−Bi_(2)MoO_(6) composite catalyst under 60 min of ultrasonic vibration.The good piezocatalytic activity was ascribed to the formation of a hierarchical flower-shaped microsphere structure and the heterostructure between Fe_(2)O_(3) and Bi_(2)MoO_(6),which effectively separated the ultrasound-induced electron–hole pairs and suppressed their recombination.Furthermore,a potential piezoelectric catalytic dye degradation mechanism of the Fe_(2)O_(3)−Bi_(2)MoO_(6) catalyst was proposed based on the band potential and quenching effect of radical scavengers.The results demonstrated the potential of using Fe_(2)O_(3)−Bi_(2)MoO_(6) nanocomposites in piezocatalytic applications.