WO3/TiO2 heterojunction photocatalyst prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering for Rhodamine B dye degradation

Photocatalysis reaction has been considered as an environmentally friendly plan for solving water pollution issue and counteracting environmental degradation. The WO3/TiO2 membranes were fabricated by reactive magne-tron sputtering under various conditions without a post-annealing treatment. Herein, the surface morphology, structure and photoelectric performance of composite films were investigated via SEM, XRD, Raman, XPS, AFM and EIS. The photocatalytic properties was tested via the degradation of 5 mg/L Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV light illumination in the presence of WO3/TiO2 photocatalysts. The existence of oxygen defects, which could increase the density of carriers was evident in the XPS studies. The heterojunctions exhibited superior photo -catalytic property, degrading 96.49% RhB solution in 2 h under the irradiation of 300W mercury lamp. A plausible photoreaction mechanism of WO3/TiO2 heterostructures was proposed based on the capture experi-ment results.

Automated summary

Photocatalysis reaction has been considered as an environmentally friendly plan for solving water pollution issue and counteracting environmental degradation. In this study, WO3/TiO2 membranes were fabricated and their surface morphology, structure, and photoelectric performance were investigated. The presence of oxygen defects was found to increase the carrier density. The heterojunctions exhibited superior photocatalytic performance under light illumination.