Fabrication of novel CuWO4 hollow microsphere photocatalyst for dye degradation under visible-light irradiation

A novel CuWO4 hollow microsphere photocatalyst was first synthesized vis a one-step hydrothermal method. The structure and morphology were characterized by SEM, TEM and XRD. The photocatalytic degradation of MB was investigated by UV-vis spectrum. The results show that CuWO4 hollow microsphere exhibited superior photocatalytic activity compared with the commercial P25 under the irradiation of visible light. The degradation rate constant k of CuWO4 hollow microsphere is 1.86 times higher than that of the commercial P25 (0.0109 min−1). The higher photocatalytic performance of CuWO4 hollow microsphere is attributed to the high absorbability and light-scattering resonance effect of the hollow spherical structure.