A facile one-step fabrication of novel WO₃/Fe₂(WO₄)₃·10.7H₂O porous microplates with remarkable photocatalytic activities

Highly efficient visible-light-driven WO₃/Fe₂(WO₄)₃·10.7H₂O porous microplates have been fabricated for the first time by a simple one-step hydrothermal method using sodium tungstate and iron chloride as precursors. The photocatalyst was characterized by employing X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-VIS absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). From the FESEM and TEM analysis, the size of as-prepared porous microplates was estimated to be ca. 2 μm. The as-prepared sample maintained a high specific surface area (96.906 m² g^-1) and showed remarkably high photocatalytic performance (k = 0.06771 min^-1) for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation. The improved performance of the product was found to be 3.3 times greater than pure WO₃ and about 6.7 times greater than that of P25 TiO₂. The enhanced optical absorption in the visible region, large specific surface area, suitable band position and efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs at the heterojunction interface between the two materials were the key factors involved in the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity.