S-Doped SbO Nanocrystal: an Efficient Visible-Light Catalyst for Organic Degradation.

The S-doped SbO nanocrystals were successfully synthesized using SbCl and thioacetamide (TAA) as precursors via a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The effects of pH of the precursor reaction solution on the product composition and property were determined. The results indicated that the doping amount of S could be tuned by adjusting the pH of the precursor solution. Furthermore, the S entered into the interstitial site of SbO crystals as S, which broadened the absorption wavelength range of the SbO nanocrystal. The S-doped SbO exhibited an excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity in the decomposition of methyl orange and 4-phenylazophenol. Last, a possible photocatalytic mechanism of the S-doped SbO under visible light irradiation was proposed.