Cylindrical stacks and flower-like tungsten oxide microstructures: Controllable synthesis and photocatalytic properties

Cylindrical stacks WO3 (CSWs) have been successfully prepared by the reaction of Na2WO4·2H2O and HCl solution via a straightforward hydrothermal treatment in the absence of any template. And the flower-like WO3 (FLW) microstructures have been prepared by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG-1000). The structure and property of the products were characterized by various techniques (XRD, FTIR, SEM and UV–vis). The possible formation mechanism of the two superstructures was discussed in detail according to the experimental results. In addition, the photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The results showed that the photocatalytic performance of FLW was more efficient compared with CSWs, demonstrating that the degradation rate may be related to their different morphologies.