Tungsten oxide is not only a type of infrared ultraviolet shielding material with high transparency, but a photocatalyst with good catalytic performance. Hexagonal tungsten trioxide (h-WO3) with ultrathin nanosheet can be synthesized via hydrothermal method to study the role of urea in the growth process of WO3. The thickness of as-prepared ultrathin nanosheet is about 5nm. Compared with hexagonal tungsten trioxide nanowire and nanorod of the same crystal phase, the as-prepared hexagonal tungsten trioxide ultrathin nanosheet displays superior photocatalytic activity. 86.6% of RhB can be eliminated after 240 minutes.
On the basis of the experiment results and analysis, it can be concluded that urea plays a critical role in crystal structure and morphology of tungsten trioxide, in which the hydrolysis of urea slows down the growth rate of tungsten trioxide. On the other hand, NH4+ and CO32- are derived from the hydrolysis of urea, which can ensure the formation of hexagonal phase and ultrathin nanosheet.
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