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Regulation of morphology and visible light-driven photocatalysis of WO3 nanostructures by changing pH

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Abstract

The controlled preparation of hexagonal tungsten trioxide (h-WO3) nanostructures was achieved by adjusting the pH of the precursor solution. The effect of the pH on the morphology, elemental composition, and photocatalytic performance of the samples was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectra were used to evaluate the absorbance and the photocatalytic performance of methylene blue. Photoluminescence (PL), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, photocurrent response and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) were used to study the optical properties, electrical performance, and specific surface area of the WO3- nanostructures, respectively. The results indicate that the WO3 nanorods prepared at pH = 1.0 exhibit the highest photocatalytic performance (87.4% in 1 h), whereas the WO3 nanoblocks prepared at pH = 3.0 show the lowest. The photocatalytic performance of the one dimensional (1D)-nanorods can be attributed to their high specific surface area and charge transfer ability. The h-WO3 nanostructures were synthesized via a simple method and without a capping agent. They show an excellent photocatalytic performance, which is promising for their application in environment purification.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC1901700) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. No51702008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials, Education Ministry of China, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    You-Shu Fan, Xiao-Li Xi, Yang-Si Liu, Zuo-Ren Nie, Lin-Yan Zhao & Qing-Hua Zhang

  2. National Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Big-data Application Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Xiao-Li Xi, Yang-Si Liu & Zuo-Ren Nie

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  1. You-Shu Fan
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Correspondence to Xiao-Li Xi.

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Fan, YS., Xi, XL., Liu, YS. et al. Regulation of morphology and visible light-driven photocatalysis of WO3 nanostructures by changing pH. Rare Met. 40, 1738–1745 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-020-01490-6

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