Aerosol-spraying preparation of Bi2MoO6: A visible photocatalyst in hollow microspheres with a porous outer shell and enhanced activity

• Hollow Bi2MoO6 microspheres were prepared by aerosol-spraying with glucose.
• Hollow morphology was formed with cage-like pores on the outer shell.
• Aerosol-spraying temperature and glucose concentration played important roles.
• Rhodamine B was photodegraded via de-ethylation process with five identified intermediates.
• High activities were ascribed to large surface area and light multiple reflections.

Bi2MoO6 hollow microspheres with cage-like pores on the outer shell were synthesized by aerosol-spraying with glucose as a template. The aerosol-spraying temperature and the amount of glucose played key roles in determining the crystal phase and the Bi2MoO6 morphology including outer shell thickness and number of cage-like pores on the outer shell. The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation was examined which revealed that the reaction followed first order kinetics with respect of rhodamine B concentration and rhodamine B was completely degraded into CO2via de-ethylation process with the formation of 5 intermediates. The as-prepared Bi2MoO6 exhibited high activity owing to the high surface area and additionally because of multiple light reflections in the hollow chamber.