Hierarchical assembly of visible-light-driven Bi2MoO6/TiO2/sepiolite composite for effective formaldehyde removal

• Published in: Applied clay science Vol. 227; p. 106590
• Main Authors: Hu, Xiaolong, Li, Chunquan, Song, Junying, Zheng, Shuilin, Sun, Zhiming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Bi2MoO6; Formaldehyde removal; Photocatalysis; Sepiolite; TiO2; Visible light; Bi2MoO6; Visible light; Formaldehyde removal; Photocatalysis; Sepiolite; TiO2
• ISSN: 0169-1317; 1872-9053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clay.2022.106590

Novel Bi2MoO6/TiO2/sepiolite ternary composite with hierarchical structure was designed through coupling Bi2MoO6/TiO2 heterojunction and sepiolite, which was synthesized through a hydrolysis precipitation route combining with the one-pot solvothermal procedure. Under visible light, the obtained Bi2MoO6/TiO2/sepiolite composite exhibited highly enhanced photocatalytic formaldehyde (HCHO) removal efficiency (0.02152 min−1), which is nearly 17.08, 14.84, 3.27, 2.98 and 2.46 times higher than that of TiO2, TiO2/sepiolite, Bi2MoO6, Bi2MoO6/sepiolite and Bi2MoO6/TiO2, respectively. After serious evaluation, it indicated that the significantly enhanced photodegradation performance for HCHO can be ascribed to the construction of ternary hierarchical composite through coupling the sepiolite and Bi2MoO6/TiO2 heterojunction, leading to the increased adsorption capacity, extended absorption in the visible light region and effective separation of photoinduced carriers. The radicals trapping experiments revealed that the holes are the main active radicals. Moreover, this work provided the detailed reaction mechanism of photocatalytic HCHO removal. Notably, our study is expected to develop a promising visible-light-driven photocatalyst for remedying indoor gas based on the construction of ternary composite derived from sepiolite. Novel Bi2MoO6/TiO2/sepiolite ternary composite with hierarchical structure was successfully synthesized through hydrolysis precipitation combining with the one-pot solvothermal strategy. The present study would provide an insight into the design and synthesis of environment-friendly and high-effective heterogeneous composite for practical indoor VOCs removal. [Display omitted] •Novel ternary heterogeneous Bi2MoO6/TiO2/sepiolite composite was synthesized.•The obtained composite exhibited superior HCHO photodegradation activity.•Potential mechanisms for enhanced visible-light-driven activity were analyzed.