Ag(2)Mo(4)O(13) photocatalyst was prepared by the hydrothermal method using AgNO(3) and (NH(4))(2)MoO(4) as raw materials in one step. The Ag(2)Mo(4)O(13) photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, N(2) adsorption measurements, and terephthalic acid photoluminescence (TA-PL) probing technique. The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst was evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange and photocatalytic reduction of nitrobenzene. The results showed that, the optimum catalyst concentration is 3 g/L, and the optimum optical thickness is 49.4. When the reaction solution was illuminated for 60 min and 10 h, and the amount of photocatalyst was 2.0 g/L, the methyl orange conversion and aniline yield were 76.4% and 63.3%, respectively. The effect of different heat treatment conditions on the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst was also investigated. The best preparation condition is heat treatment at 500°C for 10 h. Compared with those photocatalysts prepared at any other conditions, the photoabsorption wavelength range of the photocatalyst calcined at 500°C for 10 h extends greatly towards visible light and it also improves the utilization of the total spectrum. The mechanisms of influence on the photocatalytic activity were also discussed.
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