The photocatalytic performance for Mn-doping SrMoO4 reduced in H2/N2 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 H₂/N₂ 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 °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 °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 H₂/N₂ mixture atmospheres. The related mechanism was discussed.