title: WO3-xsensitized TiO2spheres with full-spectrum-driven photocatalytic activities from UV to near infrared.
abstract: To make full use of solar energy for photocatalytic reactions, in this work, we developed full-spectrum-responsive photocatalysts with noteworthy photocatalytic activities under either UV, visible or even near infrared irradiation for the photodegradation of methylene blue. The core-shell structure of TiO2@WO3-xis designed from the consideration of combining the full-spectrum photo-absorption properties of WO3-xwith the excellent semiconductor properties of TiO2. As expected, the WO3-xsensitized TiO2sphere gives rise to a prominently strong optical absorption in the whole region of 300-2500 nm and thus displays desired photocatalytic properties for the full utilization of all solar energy, especially in the unexploited NIR part, which accounts for most of the sunlight. Encouraged by the above exciting photocatalytic outcome, we then go further to propose a plausible mechanism for interpreting the NIR-driven photocatalytic properties, which is based on the hypothesis of low-valent W5+site induced free electrons and evidence-based ESR results.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guilian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chongshen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: DanDan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shouhao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, China. chongshenguo@hit.edu.cn shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shaoqin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu