Green synthesis of tungsten oxide (WO3) nanosheets and investigation of their photocatalytic and cytotoxicity effects

Abstract

In the present work, the synthesis of tungsten oxide nanosheets (WO3-NS) was performed through a sol–gel method with the usage of Na2WO4 as the tungsten source in a gelatin solution that functioned as a novel green stabilising agent. The synthesised WO3-NS were characterised by the analysing methods of XRD, FESEM/EDX, FTIR, TGA/DTG, UV–vis, Raman, and VSM. The photocatalytic activity of the product is investigated through the exertion of methylene blue pigment, while the obtained results reported 95% of degradation in 187 min under the light of a mercury vapour lamp. The cytotoxicity effect of WO3-NS on the human liver (Huh-7) cell line was evaluated by the means of the MTT method, which displayed the inhibiting capabilities of these nanosheets regarding cancer cells.