Facile synthesis 3D flower-like Ag@WO3 nanostructures and applications in solar-light photocatalysis

Tungsten trioxide (WO3) nano-material is an indirect band gap semiconductor with gap energy of 2.5-2.8 eV and has multifunctional in electrochromic, optochromic, gaschromic and photocatalytic applications. In this work, we report a novel and facile approach for the direct fabricates the 3D flower-like WO3. The WO3 were assembled from ultrathin nanosheets as the building blocks and the thickness of sheets only have 10 nm and exposed (002) facets on the top and bottom. The as-prepared WO3 have high special surface area and were employed as scaffolding to deposit the Ag nanoparticles on the surface by the method of in situ redox reaction. The Ag nanoparticles deposition on the surface of WO3 flowers significant enhances the absorption in visible light by the effect of SPR. The photocatalytic performance of Ag@WO3 plasmonic photocatalyst is obviously improved when small amounts of Ag particles are deposited on WO3 photocatalyst surface. This study provided new insights into the fabrication and practical application of high-performance photocatalysts in degrading organic pollutants.