Biomimetic Bi2WO6 with hierarchical structures from butterfly wings for visible light absorption

Abstract Biomimetic Bi 2 WO 6 with hierarchical structures inherited from butterfly wings (morph-Bi 2 WO 6 ) were fabricated by a simple soaking and calcinating method. The hierarchical structures down to nanometer level were retained in the resultant morph-Bi 2 WO 6 with pure orthorhombic phase, indicating that our biomimetic approach is effective in controlling the composition and structure of Bi 2 WO 6 . The reflectance spectra showed an improved absorption property of morph-Bi 2 WO 6 under visible light over the Bi 2 WO 6 powder synthesized under the same condition without butterfly wings, owing to the hierarchical structures. The strategy is expected to extend to other ternary compound materials for potential applications in water splitting and photocatalyst.