In-situ growth of W18O49@carbon clothes for flexible-easy-recycled photocatalysts with high performance

•W18O49@CC is synthesized via a microwave-assistant hydrothermal method initially.•Enhanced photodegradation of methylene blue under the visible light irradiation has been observed.•The lightweight flexible substrate based photocatalysts is easy-recycle.•The superoxide radical is the main photoactive species. In this letter, the W18O49@Carbon Clothes (W18O49@CC) were synthesis via a simple microwave-assistant solvothermal method for the first time. The W18O49 nanowires were in-suit grown on the surface of CC and wrapped closely, exhibiting high photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation than that of pure W18O49. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of W18O49@CC can be ascribed to the unique structure which was the main enhanced mechanism in photodegradation process. Due to the lightweight flexible CC substrate, the photocatalysts will be floating on the surface of the water, which can increase not only the contact area with the solar radiation in the practical application but also easy-recycle to avoid secondary pollution. This work gives evidence of the W18O49@CC holds a great potential in photocatalytic applications.