Surfactant-free hydrothermal synthesis of flower-like Bi2WO6 with enhanced solar-light-induced photocatalytic performance

Bi₂WO₆ with a flower-like structure was successfully synthesised by a simple surfactant-free hydrothermal method. The flower-like structures were composed of many interweaved nanosheets to form an open porous structure. The BET results showed that flower-like Bi₂WO₆ had a large surface area with 17.8 m²/g, which was 28 times higher than the Bi₂WO₆ prepared by a solid state reaction (SSR-Bi₂WO₆). A possible formation mechanism of the flower-like Bi₂WO₆ is proposed. Owing to the higher surface area, porous structure and high surface-to-volume ratios, the flower-like Bi₂WO₆ exhibited better photocatalytic activity than the SSR-Bi₂WO₆ for the degradation of Rhodamine B.