The invention belongs to the field of photocatalysis, and discloses a preparation method and applications of a carbon dot-molybdenum trioxide co-composite carbon nitride catalyst. The preparation method comprises the following operation steps: S1, preparing MoO3 powder; S2, preparing CDs powder; S3, preparing C3N4 powder; and S4, preparing a MoO3-CDs/C3N4 composite catalyst: weighing C3N4 powder,MoO3 powder and CDs powder, mixing, adding anhydrous ethanol, carrying out ultrasonic dispersion, increasing the temperature of the mixed solution to 75 DEG C, carrying out stirring evaporation, transferring into an oven, drying at a temperature of 100 DEG C, cooling, taking out the powder solid, uniformly grinding, transferring into a muffle furnace, carrying out a reaction, cooling to a room temperature, grinding, and screening to obtain the carbon dot-molybdenum trioxide and carbon nitride composite catalyst. According to the present invention, the preparation method has advantages of goodrepeatability, good controllability, good material stability, high application prospect and high use value, and can well meet the mass production requirements.