Researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology (SIMIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have demonstrated that doping tungsten oxide (WO₃) catalysts with appropriate cations can change the interfacial structure, surface chemical state, and bandgap values, thus improving the performance of the basic hydrogen electrolyte reaction (HER). In the experiments, cation (Ni, Co, and Fe) doped WO₃ catalysts were synthesized on nickel foam. The Co-doped catalysts (Co WO) exhibited remarkable HER activity.

Considerable interest in tungsten oxide polymorphs (WO_3-x) nanomaterials has been generated due to their abundance in nature, easy availability, high stability, non-recombination, and chemical diversity, and many advances have been made from traditional catalysts and electronics to emerging artificial intelligence. A recent study from Qingdao University presents the latest progress of WO_3-x polycrystals and their multifunctional applications.

Tungsten oxide-based nanomaterials have attracted a lot of attention for their use in building various electrochemical energy devices. In particular, electrochromic devices and optical change devices have been intensively investigated in terms of energy conservation.

A recent study conducted by the Anhui University of Technology has proposed new measures for the oxidation protection of tungsten alloys in nuclear fusion applications. As a plasma guide material (PFM), tungsten is persistently used in nuclear fusion reactors. However, it has poor oxidation resistance at high temperatures. When a reactor de-cooling accident occurs, tungsten is rapidly oxidized and volatilized due to air entering the vacuum chamber, which may cause a catastrophic nuclear leakage accident.