Effect of Hydrothermal Conditions on Crystal Structure, Morphology and Visible-Light Driven Photocatalysis of WO3 Nanostructures

Abstract

Tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanostructures were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and the influence of essential hydrothermal conditions, temperature and time, on their crystal structure, morphology and visible-light driven photocatalysis was studied. The hydrothermal temperature was varied from 120 °C to 200 °C, and the hydrothermal time changed from 12 h to 32 h. The crystal structure, morphology and photocatalytic performance of WO3 nanostructures were characterized by XRD, SEM and UV-Vis. The crystal structure of WO3 nanostructure was triclinic phase and their morphology was mainly one dimensional nanorods. Methylene blue was used as the target to evaluate their photocatalytic performance under visible light (λ>420 nm). The photocatalytic results suggest the suitable hydrothermal conditions to synthesize WO3 nanostructures for the wastewater treatment application.