Solvothermal synthesis of spindle-like WO3–TiO2 particles with enhanced photocatalytic activity

•WO3–TiO2 particles with spindle-like morphology were synthesized by solvothermal method.•Spindle-like WO3–TiO2 particles are assembled by numerous WO3 and TiO2 nanorods.•WO3–TiO2 composite has a very uniform distribution for principal components of W and Ti.•WO3–TiO2 composite possesses higher specific surface areas and visible light photo-responding.•Photocatalytic activity of WO3–TiO2 composite is much higher than that of single phase TiO2 or WO3.

Spindle-like WO3–TiO2 composite particles were synthesized through a facile one-step solvothermal method. The as-synthesized spindle-like WO3–TiO2 composite particles with center diameter of ca. 150 nm and length of ca. 300 nm were assembled by numerous WO3–TiO2 nanorods of ca. 20 nm in diameter. It is found that the photo-responding range was extended and the specific surface area of the composite was increased. Such spindle-like WO3–TiO2 composite exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than that of single phase TiO2 or WO3 in the degradation of methyl orange dye under illumination with simulated sunlight.

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