MoO3-nanowire membrane and Bi2Mo3O12/MoO3 nano-heterostructural photocatalyst for wastewater treatment

• A novel filter membrane was fabricated from α-MoO3 nanowires.
• A heterostructure with Bi2Mo3O12 nanoparticles on MoO3 nanowire was prepared.
• The formation mechanism of Bi2Mo3O12/MoO3 nano-heterostructures was discussed.
• They performed excellently for removing organic pollutants from wastewater.

A novel filter membrane is fabricated from α-MoO3 nanowires by a facile vacuum filtration method and subsequently used for removal of organic pollutants from a simulative wastewater. The α-MoO3 nanowires with diameters of 100–200 nm and lengths around 10 μm are synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal method. The as-prepared MoO3-nanowire filter membrane shows a very high filtration capability of 1.0 L/g that the organic dyes (50 μM) in the simulative wastewater (1.0 L) can be completely removed by filtration through the filter membrane made of 1.0 g α-MoO3 nanowires. Furthermore, the MoO3 filter membrane can be reused after a simple heattreatment at 350 °C to remove the adsorbed organic dyes. Based on the MoO3 nanowires with a high adsorbability, Bi2Mo3O12/MoO3 nano-heterostructure is prepared and used as a photocatalyst to degrade organic dyes in aqueous solution under visible light. The resultant Bi2Mo3O12/MoO3 nano-heterostructure is composed of α-MoO3 nanowires decorated with Bi2Mo3O12 nanoparticles with sizes of 50–200 nm. Compared with the pure Bi2Mo3O12 sample, Bi2Mo3O12/MoO3 nano-heterostructure displays an obviously enhanced photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of methylene blue under visible light.

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