Controlled Synthesis of Plate Like Structured MoO3 and Visible Light Induced Degradation of Rhodamine B Dye Solution

We reported a novel plate like structured MoO3 for the visible light induced photocatalytic degradation of dye for the first time. The MoO3 nanoplates were successfully synthesized by simplistic hydrothermal method and characterized in detail. Plate like structure was successfully achieved and which was confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) analysis. MoO3 nanoplates grew with well crystallinity and the crystallite size was 69.3 nm. The photocatalytic activity of the MoO3 nanoplates was evaluated towards the degradation of environmental hazardous Rhodamine B (RhB) dye solution under visible light illumination. The MoO3 nanoplates showed an excellent photocatalytic activity and 99% of the dye solution was completely degraded within 25 min. This process utilizes the visible light which is the major part of the solar energy and also does not require any additional oxidant. As a result, it may be a viable and eco-friendly method for the degradation of the dye.