Facet-, composition- and wavelength-dependent photocatalysis of AgMoO.

Faceted β-AgMoO microcrystals are prepared by controlled nucleation and growth in diethylene glycol (DEG) or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Both serve as solvents for the liquid-phase synthesis and surface-active agents for the formation of faceted microcrystals. Due to its reducing properties, truncated β-AgMoO@Ag octahedra are obtained in DEG. The synthesis in DMSO allows avoiding the formation of elemental silver and results in β-AgMoO cubes and cuboctahedra. Due to its band gap of 3.2 eV, photocatalytic activation of β-AgMoO is only possible under UV-light. To enable β-AgMoO for absorption of visible light, silver-coated β-AgMoO@Ag and Ag(MoCr)O with partial substitution of [MoO] by [CrO] were prepared, too. The photocatalytic activity of all the faceted microcrystals (truncated octahedra, cubes, cuboctahedra) and compositions (β-AgMoO, β-AgMoO@Ag, β-Ag(MoCr)O) is compared with regard to the photocatalytic decomposition of rhodamine B and the influence of the respective faceting, composition and wavelength.