Facile synthesis of WO3 micro/nanostructures by paper-assisted calcination for visible-light-driven photocatalysis

WO3 micro/nanostructures were synthesized by a facile paper-assisted calcination method, which combined the merits of wet chemical and thermal decomposition. The morphology of WO3 micro/nanostructures can be varied by adding inorganic ions. Various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques were employed to characterize the WO3 micro/nanostructures. Methylene blue (MB) photodegradation experiments showed that the WO3 micro/nanostructures possess excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic ability, and the excellent photocatalytic abilities (up to 95%) of WO3 micro/nanostructures under visible light irradiation seem corresponding to oxygen vacancies, band gap value and surface area etc. The method in this work shed light on convenient fabrication of micro/nanostructured materials for environmental remediation.