Controlled synthesis of hierarchical Bi2WO6 microspheres with improved visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical Bi2WO6 microspheres were successfully synthesized by a simple inorganic salt-assisted hydrothermal process. Morphology modulation of the obtained products could be easily realized by tuning the concentration of the nitrate. It is worthy to note that the obtained hierarchical Bi2WO6 microspheres exhibit powerful visible-light-photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine-B (RhB) under 300 W Xe lamp light irradiation. A possible salt-assisted formation mechanism was proposed on the basis of the experimental results. Furthermore, this work might represent a novel synthesis strategy for other photocatalysts with desired photocatalytic activity.