Preparation of phosphorus-doped tungsten trioxide nanomaterials and their photocatalytic performances.

In this study, a highly efficient and stable phosphorus-doped Tungsten trioxide (P-WO) photocatalyst was successfully synthesized using a combination of hydrothermal and post-calcination method. The microstructures, morphologies and optical properties of the obtained WO and P-WO samples were characterized. The results showed that P was uniformly doped into the WO lattice in a pentavalent-oxidation state (P). The charge carrier traps were also formed, which could accept the photoelectrons. Furthermore, the band gap energy was reduced from 2.4 to 2.33 ev. The photocatalytic performance of the obtained P-WO samples with different P concentrations were then tested by photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue (MB). It was found that the 6%-P-WO sample exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, with 96% of MB being able to be degraded within 120 min, which was more than four times higher than that of the pure WO. The practicality of the prepared P-WO was also evaluated using samples from two domestic wastewater treatment plants. The P-WO had a high photodegradation performance in treating low concentration of organic matters from real wastewater. The photocatalysis of P-WO could be mainly initiated by the production of hydroxyl radical (·OH) and photogenerated hole (h).