Table tennis bat poplar baseplate-derived bismuth molybdate with efficient visible-light photocatalytic activity

Abstract Wood waste from sports equipment is regarded as potentially valuable resource, providing attractive material platform to develop efficient photocatalysts. In this study, new bismuth molybdate photocatalyst, P-Bi2MoO6 with wood powder morphology, was prepared using waste table tennis bat poplar baseplates via a facile one-step synthesis using wood bionic processing technique combined with solvothermal method. Photocatalytic activity of samples was evaluated by the decomposition of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible-light irradiation. Results show that compared with conventional bismuth molybdate, synthesized P-Bi2MoO6 exhibited higher photodegradation efficiency. This can be mainly attributed to the decrease in crystallite size, enrichment in surface-active oxygen species, improved light absorption, efficient carrier separation, and strengthened charge transfer. Electron spin resonance and quenching experiments confirm that OH• and •O2− radicals are the major reactive species during the photocatalytic reaction. This study provides a new synthetic strategy for photocatalysts with different shapes for the purification of water environment.