Preparation of platinum-loaded cubic tungsten oxide: A highly efficient visible light-driven photocatalyst

Abstract Multistructural tungsten oxide samples were prepared using the hydrothermal method in the presence of different sulfates. In this paper, we present WO 3 nanorods, WO 3 toothpicks and cubic WO 3 samples prepared in the presence of Na 2 SO 4 , Li 2 SO 4 and FeSO 4 , respectively. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS and UV–vis DR. It is found that Fe 2 O 3 was impregnated in the cubic WO 3 which is different from other two samples. After Pt loading, Pt-loaded WO 3 with different morphology acting as novel visible light-driven photocatalysts showed remarkably high photocatalytic activity under visible light radiation. Significantly, the maximum efficiency of photodegradation was observed at 1 wt.% Pt loading amount in the cubic WO 3 sample. The highest photocatalytic activity of the cubic Pt/Fe 2 O 3 /WO 3 photocatalyst is attributed to the synergistic action of Pt nanoparticles and Fe 2 O 3 .