Structural, photoluminescence, electrical, anti cancer and visible light driven photocatalytic characteristics of Co doped WO3 nanoplates

In this study, soft chemical route has been adopted for the synthesis of Co doped WO3 nanoplates. The prepared samples are crystallized into monoclinic phase of WO3 and composed of two dimensional (2-D) nanoplates. The substitution of Co2+ ions on the sites of W6+ ions has been confirmed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The presence of functional groups and chemical bonding has been verified through FTIR and Raman spectra. Narrowing of the optical gap with Co doping has been observed which is linked with formation defects levels in the band of WO3. The Co doping has been found to be very effective in enhancing the visible light driven photodegradation activity of WO3 nanoplates up to 90% which is attributed to trapping photo-generated electrons by defects. Furthermore, Co doped WO3 nanoplates have also shown good anticancer activities against human breast (MSF-7) and lever (Hep-2) cancer cells.