Mechanochemical homodisperse of Bi2MoO6 on Zn-Al LDH matrix to form Z-scheme heterojunction with promoted visible-light photocatalytic performance

In this work, a Z-scheme Bi₂MoO₆/Zn-Al LDH heterojunction photocatalyst with excellent visible light responsiveness was fabricated via a two-step mechanochemical ball-milling process, where amorphous Bi₂MoO₆ particles were homodispersed upon the surface of lamellar LDH matrix. BPA was selected as the targeted organic contaminant to quantitatively evaluate the photocatalytic capacity of Bi₂MoO₆/Zn-Al LDH, in which the optimal 30 wt%Bi₂MoO₆/LDH exhibited a degradation rate of 96% within 300 min, over 9.25 and 18.5 times higher than that of individual pristine Bi₂MoO₆ and LDH, respectively. The crystal structure, microtopography, interfacial physicochemical interaction, optical and electrochemical properties of as-fabricated hybrids were systematically evaluated, and the DFT theoretical calculation was used to confirm the electronic structural characteristics in the Bi₂MoO₆/LDH heterojunction. A possible photocatalysis reaction mechanism was interpreted through ESR where the major manner of ?O^2– proved the Z-scheme electron migration within matched band levels.