Well-controlled in-situ growth of 2D WO 3 rectangular sheets on reduced graphene oxide with strong photocatalytic and antibacterial properties.

Finding the materials, which help to control the water pollution caused by organic and bacterial pollutants is one of the challenging tasks for the scientific community. 2D sheets of WO ₃ and composite of WO ₃ and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been synthesized in a well-controlled way using a hydrothermal method. The as synthesized 2D sheet of WO ₃ and rGO-WO ₃ composite were characterized by various techniques. The 2D sheets of WO ₃ and rGO-WO ₃ composite are efficiently utilized for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes under sunlight. The rGO-WO ₃ composite reveals excellent photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye by degrading it upto 85% under sunlight. However, the MB dye was degraded by 32%. The greater degradation of RhB dye was explained in terms of the molecular electrostatic potential. We found that RhB has a more positive potential compared to MB dye where O ₂ ^- and OH ^̊ radicals interact more strongly, resulting in a greater degradation of the RhB dye. The antibacterial activity of the 2D sheets of WO ₃ and rGO-WO ₃ composite was also investigated on gram positive (B. subtilis) and gram negative (P. aeroginosa) microbes for the first time.
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