BiYWO6: Novel synthetic routes and their effect on visible-light photocatalysis

• BiYWO6 was synthesized by sol–gel and hydrothermal methods for the first time.
• BiYWO6 was shown to be active for resazurin degradation under visible light.
• Different preparation routes led to different tendencies to form resorufin.
• Low-temperature preparation routes enable fabrication of Bi2−xYxWO6 electrodes.

BiYWO6 is considered to be a promising visible light-active photocatalyst, however, so far there were no reports on its preparation by low-temperature routes. In this work, BiYWO6 was synthesized by sol–gel and by hydrothermal routes for the first time. Its photocatalytic visible light activity was evaluated by following the degradation of resazurin (Rz) while decoupling between photocatalysis, photosensitization and photolysis. The various preparation routes yielded different morphologies which resulted not only in different optical properties but also in different tendencies to form the stable intermediate product resorufin. These low-temperature methods pave the way for the fabrication of well-adhered Bi2−xYxWO6 electrodes.