The photocatalytic performance for Mn-doping SrMoO4 reduced in H-2/N-2 mixture atmospheres

SrMoO4 and Mn-doped SrMoO4 nanoparticles have been synthesized by high temperature thermal decomposition of metal-organic salt in organic solvent with a high boiling point. Then they were reduced in H-2/N-2 mixture atmospheres at different reducing temperatures T-R. Samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible light spectrum (UV), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD and XPS results showed that SrMoO3 phase appears when the annealing temperature was 700 degrees C (SMO700). The light absorption edge shifted to the visible range and enhanced the visible light photocatalytic activity. The methyl blue (MB) solution was degraded, and the degradation efficiency was 80.30% in 120 min for SMO700 sample. For the 2%Mn doping SrMoO4 sample, the efficiency of degradation reached 97.53% when the annealing temperature was 700 degrees C(2Mn-SMO700). The results showed that a certain amount of SrMoO3 is helpful to improve the photocatalytic performance of SrMoO4. In addition, the photocatalytic performance of SrMoO4 was also related to Mn-doped amount, annealing temperature and annealing time in H-2/N-2 mixture atmospheres. The related mechanism was discussed.