Posted on behalf of Gwenda Kyd, web writer for CrystEngComm
Tungsten oxide hydrates (like WO3•nH2O, n=0-2) show promising photocatalytic properties. They efficiently oxidise a range of organic compounds including textile dyes and bacterial pollutants when irradiated with blue light and also have potential use in the treatment of acid polluted solutions. An understanding of the structure dependent nature of the activities is required to fully develop them and new preparation methods can facilitate this. Microwave heating methods are attractive as they increase reaction rates and improve the yields and purity of products.
This new paper shows how microwave assisted synthesis of WO3•0.33H2O can efficiently produce orthorhombic crystallites. The products of syntheses with and without microwave heating via three different methods were compared. In each case, different particle sizes and morphologies were formed. For each of the pairs (with or without microwave heating), the photocatalytic properties were enhanced for the products of the microwave-assisted synthesis. Authors suggest this is due to the preferential growth along the (100) face exposing more of the highly acidic (010) faces.
For more details see the paper at:
Microwave-assisted growth of WO3·0.33H2O micro/nanostructures with enhanced visible light photocatalytic properties
Jiayin Li, Jianfeng Huang, Jianpeng Wu, Liyun Cao, Qijia Li and Kazumichi Yanagisawa
CrystEngComm, 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE41005F, Paper
Gwenda Kyd has a PhD in metallocarborane chemistry from the University of Edinburgh. Other research work includes the spectroscopic study of the structure of glasses and organometallic electron-transfer reactions and the preparation of new inorganic phosphors. Currently she works as a scientific database editor.
