Synthesis of nano-WO3 and its catalytic activity for enhanced antimicrobial process for water purification using laser induced photo-catalysis

Nano-WO3, synthesized by sol–gel method, in conjunction with 355 nm pulsed laser showed a significant enhancement in the photo-catalytic activity in the process of disinfecting Escherichia coli microorganism in water. The bacteria decay rate was estimated for different catalytic concentrations and laser pulse energies and the decay rate increased as high as 0.94 min−1 as compared to 0.65 min−1 for the micro-structured WO3 under the same experimental conditions. This increased catalytic effect is attributed to the reduced grain size and widened band gap energy of the synthesized nano-WO3.