Photothermal Conversion of W18O49 with a Tunable Oxidation State

W18O49 with a tunable oxidation state was prepared by addition of NaNO3 or NaBH4 as a redox agent in the solvothermal system. The addition of redox agents has no influence on the crystallization of W18O49. The obtained W18O49 structures keep their morphology as a bundle of nanowires with a regular hexagonal on the cross-section. W18O49 exhibits strong valence-dependent absorption features in the near-IR region. Reduced W18O49 with more W5+ has a higher concentration of oxygen vacancies, which enhances the localized surface plasmon resonance effect. Reduced W18O49 exhibits a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 59.6 % and has good photothermal stability.