Solar light driven photocatalytic degradation of Ofloxacin based on ultra- thin bismuth molybdenum oxide nanosheets

Herein, we report the facile synthesis, characterization and solar-light driven photocatalytic degradation of ultra-thin bismuth molybdenum oxide (Bi2MoO6) nanosheets. The nanosheets were synthesized by hydrothermal process and characterized using several techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), UV-diffusive reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS), transmission emission microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photon electron spectroscopy (XPS). The detailed morphological and structural studies confirmed the growth of ultra-thin Bi2MoO6 nanosheets in large density with orthorhombic crystal structure. The calculated bandgap energy from Tauc's plot for the synthesized nanosheets was found to be 2.73 eV, which shows maximum absorption toward higher wavelength. The XPS studies confirmed the successful formation Bi2MoO6 nanosheets. The synthesized material was used as efficient solar light driven photocatalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of Ofloxacin. The mineralization of ofloxacin was confirmed using total organic carbon (TOC) analysis and photocatalytic experiments were performed under optimized conditions. It was observed that TOC value decreased with increasing the irradiation time. Under optimized photocatalytic degradation conditions, the observed extent of degradation was found to be similar to 71%. The observed results confirm that the synthesized Bi2MoO6 nanosheets are efficient and promising visible light responsive catalyst for the degradation of persistent organic pollutants.