Fabrication and Characterization of Tailored TiO2 and WO3/MWCNT Composites for Methylene Blue Decomposition

A sol-gel method was used to prepare WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composites. Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under UV light. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, specific surface area measurement, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Aqueous MB solutions of 100 ml were photodegraded by a small amount of the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite under UV light irradiation. The photocatalytic data showed that the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite achieved a high rate of MB photodegradation. This was attributed to the use of MWCNT which can absorb UV light to create photo-induced electrons, strong adsorption of dye molecules on the photocatalyst, and reduced recombination rate of electron-holes in the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite due to the introduction of the WO3 semiconductor.