Assembly of Mg‐Mo‐Al‐Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) @ MoO₄²⁻ and Its Synergistic Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol in Wastewater

Abstract

Mg2+‐Mo6+‐Al3+‐MoO42−‐Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) materials were successfully prepared via a hydrothermal method by doping Mo6+ in hydroxide laminates and inserting MoO42− to replace the interlayer anions of LDHs materials. The samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIRS) and ultraviolet‐visible spectrophotometer (UV). The electronic density of states was calculated using the density functional theory (DFT) of Vienna Ab‐initio Simulation Package (VASP). The effects of Mo6+ and MoO42− on the structure, morphology, electronic structure and photocatalytic performance of Mg2+‐Al3+‐LDHs were systematically studied. The conditions for phenol degradation by Mg2+‐Mo6+‐Al3+‐MoO42−‐LDHs were optimized by single factor analysis and response surface methodology. The results show that the MoO42− anion reduces the band gap width and thus enhances the absorption of low‐energy photons. The interaction between cations and anions enhances the photocatalytic performance. When the dosage of Mg2+‐Mo6+‐Al3+‐MoO42−‐LDHs was 0.03 g, the temperature was 40 °C and the visible light irradiation was 15 min, the removal rate of phenol reached 94.76 %.