Preparation of C-doped WO_(3-x) and Investigation on its Photocatalytic Activity for Water Splitting

WO3-x and C-doped WO3-x were prepared by sol-gel method and were characterized by SEM,XRD,DRS and XPS.The photocatalytic activity for water splitting of WO3-x and C-doped WO3-x was investigated.Experimental results indicated that,C-doping could change the phase of WO3-x to some extent.Doping of C could increase the amounts of oxygen vacancies and W5+ on the surface.DRS analysis shows C-doped WO3-x could increase the absorption of visible light.The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by water splitting under artificial solar light.The results showed that the C-doped WO3-x exhibited stronger photocatalytic activity for water splitting,and the rate for oxygen evolution was respectively 0.91 and 0.52 times higher than that of WO3-x under ultraviolet(UV) and visible light(vis) irradiations.