A novel photocatalyst BiSbO4 for degradation of methylene blue

BiSbO4 powder was synthesized by a solid state reaction method. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra. BiSbO4 is an indirect gap material with the intrinsic band gap of 2.75 eV. It possesses a fair activity for visible-light-driven photocatalysis. The results concerning methylene blue photodecomposition generally show that the catalytic efficiency of BiSbO4 is slightly higher than that of rutile-type TiO2 under UV light irradiation. The 3–5 wt% RuO2 sensitization causes about three-time increase in catalytic efficiency. The photocatalytic activity is discussed in close connection with calculated band structure and crystal structure. In this article, the effects of powder concentration and pH value in suspending aqueous solution are also presented.