Reactive magnetron sputtering deposition of bismuth tungstate onto titania nanoparticles for enhancing visible light photocatalytic activity

[Display omitted] •Bismuth tungstate coatings were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering.•Oscillating bowl was introduced to the system to enable coating of nanopartulates.•Deposition of Bi2WO6 enhanced visible light activity of titania nanoparticles.•The best results were obtained for coating with Bi:W ratio of approximately 2:1.•Deposition of Bi2WO6 onto TiO2 resulted in more efficient electron-hole separation. Titanium dioxide − bismuth tungstate composite materials were prepared by pulsed DC reactive magnetron sputtering of bismuth and tungsten metallic targets in argon/oxygen atmosphere onto anatase and rutile titania nanoparticles. The use of an oscillating bowl placed beneath the two magnetrons arranged in a co-planar closed field configuration enabled the deposition of bismuth tungstate onto loose powders, rather than a solid substrate. The atomic ratio of the bismuth/tungsten coatings was controlled by varying the power applied to each target. The effect of the bismuth tungstate coatings on the phase, optical and photocatalytic properties of titania was investigated by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and an acetone degradation test. The latter involved measurements of the rate of CO2 evolution under visible light irradiation of the photocatalysts, which indicated that the deposition of bismuth tungstate resulted in a significant enhancement of visible light activity, for both anatase and rutile titania particles. The best results were achieved for coatings with a bismuth to tungsten atomic ratio of 2:1. In addition, the mechanism by which the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 nanoparticles was enhanced by compounding it with bismuth tungstate was studied by microwave cavity perturbation. The results of these tests confirmed that such enhancement of the photocatalytic properties is due to more efficient photogenerated charge carrier separation, as well as to the contribution of the intrinsic photocatalytic properties of Bi2WO6.