Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol.229, 251-256, 2019
Characterization of TiO2/WO3 composite produced with recycled WO3 nanoparticles from W-Ni-Fe alloy
In this study, tungsten was recovered in the form of WO3 nanoparticle from tungsten heavy alloys (W-Ni-Fe) through a chemical method. In this process nanoparticles of WO3 with crystallite sizes of 21.2 nm were obtained, which were then used to produce TiO2/WO3 composites. The nanoparticles were evaluated using XRD, FESEM, BET, and DRS analyses. The results of TiO2/WO3 composites evidenced that as WO3 rises in amount, the specific surface area and band gap lower, so that the 50%WO3 compound in the composite resulted in the specific surface area of 62.1 m(2)/g and band gap of 2.77 eV. In order to compare the photocatalytic performance of the composites, methyl orange dye degradation test was carried out under the radiation of UV-Vis light. The results indicated that the composite of TiO2-20%WO3 with the specific surface area of 58.2 m(2)/g, and band gap energy of 2.94 eV had the highest efficiency in removing the dye. This enhancement in the photocatalytic performance might be due to an improvement in light absorption properties, and a reduction in recombination rate of the electron-holes produced by light.