Preparation, microstructure and luminescence properties of TiO2/WO3 composites

Tungsten oxide (WO3) nanomaterials have become a hot spot in the current research on metal oxides due to their good antibacterial and anticancer properties. In this paper, WO3 was prepared by the sol-gel method, and samples with different structures and morphologies were obtained by controlling the pH value. Ammonium paratungstate and tetrabutyl titanate were used as raw materials, and the amount of Tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT) was changed to regulate the TiO2/WO3 samples were prepared by varying the amount of TBOT. The structure, morphology and luminescence properties were also investigated. The results show that the monoclinic WO3 nanoparticles as well as TiO2/WO3 composite nanomaterials were prepared successfully. Under acidic and alkaline conditions, the particles are mainly rod-shaped and granular, and the smaller the pH is, the smaller the particle size is. The average grain size is 49.8 nm. The strongest luminescence of the samples at 611 nm was evident at an excitation wavelength of 394 nm. The luminescence property of WO3 prepared under alkaline condition is better than that under acidic condition. The luminescence intensity of the prepared TiO2/WO3 composites by adding 1 ml TBOT in acidic conditions increased by 21% compared with that of 2 ml TBOT. The luminescence intensity of the prepared TiO2/WO3 composites by adding 2 mL TBOT in alkaline condition increased by 14% compared with that prepared by adding 1 mL TBOT.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the preparation of WO3 nanomaterials using the sol-gel method and explores their structural, morphological, and luminescent properties. The results show the successful preparation of monoclinic WO3 nanoparticles as well as TiO2/WO3 composite nanomaterials, with rod-shaped and granular morphologies. The particle size decreases as the pH value decreases. Additionally, the luminescence property of WO3 prepared under alkaline conditions is better, and the luminescence intensity of TiO2/WO3 composites increases with the addition of TBOT.