Performance of solvothermally grown Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst toward degradation of organic azo dyes and fluoroquinolone antibiotics

Abstract Preparation of Bi2MoO6 catalyst at low temperature via a solvothermal method was reported. Neither surfactant nor capping agent was used. The orthorhombic Bi2MoO6 catalyst showed a very high efficiency of 90% toward photodegradation of two azo dyes (reactive red dye and Congo red dye) and two antibiotics (ofloxacin and norfloxacin) under both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light irradiation. The photodegradation reaction of these organic pollutants correlates well with the pseudo first-order kinetics model. Both electron and hole play a major role in degradation of the pollutants. The Bi2MoO6 photocatalyst still shows a very high photocatalytic performance even after five cycles of use. This indicates the advantages of structural stability and reusability of the catalyst. The prepared Bi2MoO6 could be a promising photocatalyst for degradation of organic dyes and antibiotics present in water.