Preparation and improved photocatalytic activities of Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped Bi2MoO6.

Ho 3+ /Yb 3+ co-doped Bi 2 MoO 6 (Ho 3+ /Yb 3+ -Bi 2 MoO 6 ) photocatalyst has been prepared via coprecipitation method followed by an annealing process. The as-synthesized powder exhibits spherical and sheet structure with size of 200 nm-300 nm. Then the photocatalyst was applied to degrade rhodamine (RhB) to measure its photocatalytic activies under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm). From the results, Ho 3+ /Yb 3+ -Bi 2 MoO 6 showed higher photocatalytic efficiency (96.48%) than that (79.70%) of bare Bi 2 MoO 6 within 25min. Besides, the photocatalytic activity of the sample keeps well after three photodegradation cycles. This work provides a great way to synthesize photocatalyst with high photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]