Fabrication and Characterization of Tailored TiO2 and WO3/MWCNT Composites for Methylene Blue Decomposition

A sol-gel method was used to prepare WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composites.Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution under UV light.The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction,specific surface area measurement,energy-dispersive X-ray analysis,transmission and scanning electron microscopy.Aqueous MB solutions of 100 ml were photodegraded by a small amount of the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite under UV light irradiation.The photocatalytic data showed that the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite achieved a high rate of MB photodegradation.This was attributed to the use of MWCNT which can absorb UV light to create photo-induced electrons,strong adsorption of dye molecules on the photocatalyst,and reduced recombination rate of electron-holes in the WO3/MWCNT-TiO2 composite due to the introduction of the WO3 semiconductor.