Photochromic and photocatalytic properties of ultra-small PVP-stabilized WO3 nanoparticles

Tungsten oxide-based bulk and nanocrystalline materials are widely used as photocatalytic and photo- and electrochromic materials, as well as materials for biomedical applications. In our work, we focused our attention on the effect of sodium cations on the structure and photochromic properties of the WO3@PVP aqueous sols. To establish the effect, the sols were synthesized by either simple pH adjusting of sodium or ammonium tungstates’ solutions, or using an ion exchange technique to remove the cations from the materials to the greatest possible extent. We showed that the presence of sodium cations in WO3@PVP favors the formation of reduced tungsten species (W+5) upon UV irradiation of the materials, strongly affecting their photochromic and photocatalytic properties. The pronounced photoreductive properties of WO3@PVP sols in photocatalytic reactions were demonstrated. Due to photoreductive properties, photochromic sols of tungsten oxide can act as effective photoprotectors in photooxidation processes. We believe that our work provides a considerable contribution to the elucidation of photochromic and redox phenomena in WO3-based materials.