Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2021) 136: 38
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00977-6

Regular Article

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

Faculty of Physics, Semnan University, P.O. Box: 35195-363, Semnan, Iran

^a f_tehrani@semnan.ac.ir

Received: 28 June 2020
Accepted: 29 November 2020
Published online: 4 January 2021

Abstract

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.