Enhanced photocatalytic performance of m-WO3 and m-Fe-doped WO3 cuboids synthesized via sol-gel approach using egg albumen as a solvent

The monoclinic-WO3 and Fe-doped WO3 powders were successfully obtained at 800 degrees C synthesized via sol-gel approach using fresh egg albumen as one solvent to provide a matrix for entrapment of W(VI) ions to acquire gel form. The obtained nano-particles were characterized via powder x-ray diffractometry (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), brunauer-emmett teller (BET), uv-vis spectroscopy (UV), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The efficiencies of catalysts for de-colorization of organic pollutants were investigated on methylene blue (MB) dye. The results reveal that 5% Fe-doped WO3 photocatalyst shows best photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation (similar to 95% in 120 min) with a rate constant(similar to 0.0227 min(-1)). The enhanced photocatalytic activity of 5% Fe-doped WO3 is due to its high crystallinity, large BET surface area (similar to 30.26 m(2)/g), nano-porous architecture (pore diameter similar to 1.76 nm), low PL emission intensity, visible light absorbing band gap (similar to 2.39 eV), high rate of electron-hole pairs generation and suppressed recombination of photo-generated charges.