Facile synthesis of WSe2/PEG nanostructures as a highly efficient with superior photocatalytic performance

Recent research has concentrated on developing efficient and cost-effective co-catalysts to enhance photocatalytic applications, which are prominent among the various emerging techniques for harnessing easily accessible energy sources. The present work focuses on the hydrothermal approach to fabricate and thoroughly characterize tungsten selenium (WSe2) nanoparticles using polyethylene glycol (PEG-4000) as their surfactant. The samples underwent advanced characterizations such as SEM and HRTEM to examine morphology, X-ray diffraction (XRD) to validate phase and crystal structure, photoluminescence (PL) and Raman studies for defect density determination, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for analyzing functional groups and bonds, and XPS for insights into elemental composition and chemical state of the hybrid nanostructures. A comparative analysis was conducted, utilizing both bare WSe2 and WSe2/PEG nanostructures, to observe their enhanced photocatalytic degradation efficiency and degradation kinetics on RhB. The superior photocatalytic performances were attributed to enhanced pore size and reduced defect density in the WSe2/PEG nanostructures.