Tailored mesoporous γ-WO nanoplates: unraveling their potential for highly sensitive NH detection and efficient photocatalysis.

Herein, the monoclinic phase of tungsten oxide (γ-WO) was successfully obtained after annealing hydrothermally synthesised WO powder at 500 °C. As per the result obtained from the N adsorption-desorption isotherm, the material has been identified as mesoporous with a specific surface area of 3.71 m g from BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analysis. Moreover, the average pore size (49.52 nm) and volume (0.050 cm g) were also determined by the BJH (Barrett-Joyner-Halenda) method. FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy) and HR-TEM (high resolution transmission electron microscopy) have confirmed the formation of nanoplates with an average diameter of approximately 274 nm. Raman spectroscopy has shown peaks at the lower wavenumber region (270 cm and 326 cm) and the higher wavenumber region (713 cm and 806 cm) for O-W-O bending modes and stretching modes, respectively. The combined effect of relative humidity (RH-11%-RH-95%-RH-11%) and NH (150 ppm, 300 ppm, 450 ppm, 600 ppm, 700 ppm, and 800 ppm) was investigated in this reported work. The synthesised γ-WO has shown highly responsive behaviour for humidity of 96.5% (RH-11%-95%) and NH sensing (under humidity) of 97.4% (RH-11%-95% with 800 ppm NH). The response and recovery time were calculated as 15 s and 52 s, and 16 s and 54 s for humidity, and NH under humidity, respectively. The experimental findings demonstrated that the resistance of the sensor depends on the concentration of NH and humidity. Moreover, γ-WO has been investigated as a promising catalyst for the dye degradation of methylene blue (MB) with a degradation efficiency of 72.82% and methyl orange (MO) with a degradation efficiency of 53.84% under visible light exposure. This dye degradation occurred within 160 min in the presence of a catalyst under visible light irradiation.