Performance of WO3 nanoparticles in photocatalytic conversion of greenhouse gases under visible light irradiation

Abstract

The direct photoconversion of carbon dioxide and methane is investigated in an appropriate gas-phase batch reactor under visible light irradiation. WO₃ nanoparticles coated on stainless steel webnet have used as photocatalyst. WO₃ nanoparticles are synthesized and characterized by SEM, XRD, EDX, FTIR and UV-vis spectra analyses. SEM images indicate that WO₃ nanoparticles were well coated on the surface of the webnet. The XRD analysis confirm monoclinic structure and average particle size about 100 nm for the WO₃ nanoparticles. Also, the FTIR analysis exhibit the structure of tungsten oxide. The results of UV–vis show that the visible light absorbance spectrum of WO₃ are more efficient than TiO₂ and ZnO. The conversions of 28% and 13.3% for CO₂ and CH₄ has been found by WO₃ under visible light, respectively.