Synthesis of S-doped WO3 nanowires with enhanced photocatalytic performance towards dye degradation

Abstract In this letter, S-doped WO3 nanowires (S-WO3) were prepared using a hydrothermal method followed by a low-temperature solid-state annealing treatment. The synthesized S-WO3 was characterized by SEM, EDX, XRD, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, UV–vis DRS and photocurrent responses. The results indicated that S could enhance the light harvesting capacity of WO3 nanowires. The photocatalytic performance of the S-WO3 was investigated by photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation. Results demonstrated that the photocatalytic activity of the S-WO3 nanowires is much higher than that of pure WO3 nanowires.