Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created a new tungsten (W) substituted vanadium oxide catalyst for breaking down harmful nitrogen oxides in industrial exhaust gases. Their new material is able to operate at lower temperatures and does not exhibit a significant degradation in performance when treating "wet" exhaust gases, addressing a major drawback of conventional vanadium oxide catalysts. The researchers also found that the non-aggregated dispersion of atomic tungsten in the original crystal structure plays a key role in its function.

Recently, researchers from Jiujiang University and the University of Puerto Rico, USA, conducted a study on the sensitivity and selective effect of tungsten oxide nanostructures on pollution gases. The study titled “Effect of Tungsten Oxide Nanostructures on Sensitivity and Selectivity of Pollution Gases” has been published in the journal Sensors on 26 Aug. 2020. The study was carried out by Fenghui et al.

The application of ultrasound (US) as a green activation method for the chemical conversion of tungstate catalyst to oxidize alcohols to aldehydes has attracted chemists’ interest.

Tungsten (W) is mainly in the W⁺⁶ oxidation state in most W oxides, with six oxygen atoms surrounding each W atom in an octahedral configuration. In oxidized tungsten (WO₃), these octahedra are arranged in a split-angle configuration. In reduced oxides (WO_j, 2 < x < 3), complex combinations of WO₆ octahedra in split-angle, split-edge, and split-face arrangements are frequently found. The WO₄ tetrahedra and WO₇ pentagonal dihedra, which are frequently found in fully oxidized and partially reduced compounds, respectively, add to the complexity of the crystal geography of these compounds.