Well-controlled in-situ growth of 2D WO3 rectangular sheets on reduced graphene oxide with strong photocatalytic and antibacterial properties

Abstract

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 WO3 and composite of WO3 and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been synthesized in a well-controlled way using a hydrothermal method. The as synthesized 2D sheet of WO3 and rGO-WO3 composite were characterized by various techniques. The 2D sheets of WO3 and rGO-WO3 composite are efficiently utilized for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes under sunlight. The rGO-WO3 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 O2− and OH̊ radicals interact more strongly, resulting in a greater degradation of the RhB dye. The antibacterial activity of the 2D sheets of WO3 and rGO-WO3composite was also investigated on gram positive (B. subtilis) and gram negative (P. aeroginosa) microbes for the first time.