Facile synthesis, physicochemical properties, and photocatalytic activity of in-situ Gr@WO₃H₂O nanoplate nanocomposite

In situ nanocomposites of graphene (Gr) and tungsten oxide hydrate (WO[Formula: see text]O) nanoplates were synthesized via facile and energy-saving acid precipitation method at room temperature. The effect of the in situ composition on the physicochemical properties of WO[Formula: see text]O platform material in nanocomposites was examined with X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, UV–Vis reflectance spectra. Gr helped reduce microstrain, reduce the average crystalline size, increase the distance between (111) planes in WO[Formula: see text]O platform nanoplates, and abnormally increase the optical bandgap. All samples showed a moderate photocatalytic activity in methylene blue (MB) removing efficiency under visible light irradiation, which was remarkably enhanced by adding 0.1[Formula: see text]mL H2O2. In comparison with both pristine and nanocomposite samples, the sample having 0.1[Formula: see text]wt.% of Gr in nanocomposite showed the highest MB removing efficiency of 47% and 99% in corresponding to without and with 0.1[Formula: see text]mL H2O2. The photocatalytic activity was assigned to the key role of the photogenerated holes, which was enhanced by compositing with Gr and/or the appearance of H2O2. The results of this work were a contribution to studying the photocatalytic mechanism of tungsten oxide hydrate-based nanocomposite and also proposed a facile method for preparing WO[Formula: see text]O-based nanocomposite.