High specific surface area micro-mesoporous WO3 nanostructures synthesized with facile hydrothermal method

Nanostructures with high specific surface area are extremely desirable for wide range of applications such as catalysis, gas sensing, filtration, and adsorption. In this paper, we have investigated the effect of two different organic (citric acid-CA) and inorganic (sodium sulfate-SS) structure assisting agent to achieve a tungsten oxide nanostructure with high specific surface area by a simple and one-step hydrothermal method. The products were characterized and analyzed using various techniques including field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy, and N2 adsorption–desorption experiment. The results revealed that the morphology/crystalline phase of CA- and SS-assisted nanostructures were rod-like/hexagonal WO3 and sheet-like/cubic WO3·0.5H2O, respectively. SS-assisted WO3 was highly reflective in the region of visible and NIR (400–1000 nm) and it is a good candidate for using in different reflectors. However, CA-assisted WO3 sample has higher energy bandgap of 2.82 and very high specific surface area of 172.7 m2/g. Therefore, an excellent micro-mesoporous WO3 nanostructure can be synthesized by an easy approach and low-cost precursors for use in various industries.