Visible light induced methylene blue dye degradation photo-catalyzed by WO3/graphene nanocomposites and the mechanism

Graphene incorporated WO3 nanocomposites with different graphene contents were synthesized in the present study using the hydrothermal approach. The results showed nano-structured WO3 sticks were uniformly dispersed within the graphene sheets. The incorporation of the graphene significantly decreased the band gap energy of the pristine WO3. Due to this reason, the prepared WO3/Graphene nanocomposites had much higher photodegradation efficiency to the methylene blue dye than the pristine WO3. More importantly, it was found that the prepared nanocomposites could initiate dye degradation with a very desirable efficiency under visible light, and the methylene blue molecules could be converted to some small molecules during this process. This study provides an effective photocatalyst which can initiate dyestuff degradation in the wastewater under visible light. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.