A Dissolution-Regeneration Route to Synthesize Blue Tungsten Oxide Flowers and their Applications in Photocatalysis and Gas Sensing

Tungsten oxide (WO3) has unique physicochemical properties. Although various synthetic methods have been proposed to fabricate tungsten oxide with different morphologies, methods of tailoring the tungsten oxide nanostructure toward new morphologies are still needed. In this work, a self-assembled WO3 center dot 0.33H(2)O nanoflower is synthesized using a dissolution and regeneration method. In such a two-step synthetic process, temperature, solvent, and reaction times are found to be the main parameters affecting the morphology of WO3 center dot 0.33H(2)O. The synthesized WO3 center dot 0.33H(2)O nanoflower exhibits a localized surface plasmon resonance effect and a high photocatalytic activity, which can be explained by the doping of W5+ and its morphology. Furthermore, this WO3 center dot 0.33H(2)O nanoflower can also be used as a gas sensor and has good selectivity and linearity towards acetone vapor in the range of 50-500 ppm.