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Enhanced Visible Light Response and Characterization of Nanoscale TiO2/WO3−x Composite Photocatalyst by Sol–gel Synthesis

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Abstract

The TiO2/WO3−x nanoscale particles with superior interfacial interactions were synthesized using tetrabutyl titanate (IV) through the sol–gel method, then calcining at 450 ℃ for 3 h. The electrical property of the photocatalyst was tuned by forming nano-size heterogeneous structures with the co-crystallization of TiO2 and tungsten oxide structures. The prepared photocatalysis samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS, and UV–vis. The higher specific surface area (72.1372 m2/g) and strong interaction in the TiO2/WO3−x photocatalyst interface enhanced the photoelectrochemical activity and the bandgap was adjusted from 3.16 to 2.96 eV. It has been discovered by using methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB), the photoresponse range of 2 mol% tungsten added TiO2/WO3−x photocatalyst has extended to the visible portion of the spectrum by the degradation of dyes and reached 94.8% and 97.4% for MB and RhB at 90 min and 100 min, respectively. TiO2/WO3−x contained a higher donor concentration due to the oxygen vacancy structure of WOx and the electrons that occurred at the defects are believed to be easier to participate in the photocatalytic reactions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Jilin University Graduate Innovation Project (2016206). The authors appreciate the Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of China and the environment and resource college of Jilin University for the financial support and research facilities. We also appreciate Professor Lu Liu of Changchun institute of technology for assisting and providing facilities with the XRD and TEM experiments.

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  1. Zijian Liu

    Present address: Tsukishima Kikai Co., Ltd., 3-5-1, Harumi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0053, Japan

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  1. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8579, Japan

    Zijian Liu & Chihiro Inoue

  2. Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Fengjun Zhang

  3. College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun, China

    Chenyang Li

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Liu, Z., Zhang, F., Li, C. et al. Enhanced Visible Light Response and Characterization of Nanoscale TiO2/WO3−x Composite Photocatalyst by Sol–gel Synthesis. Catal Lett 153, 2936–2949 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-022-04079-z

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