For a long time, TiO₂ has been the preferred material for photocatalysis. Until 1983, Chinese scholars used WO₃ to deal with printing and dyeing wastewater for the first time, and achieved very good results. Tungstate has narrower forbidden band width (2.8eV) than TiO₂. It is considered to be one of the most potential photocatalysts.

Tungsten carbide with high hardness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, coating material is good, for metal ceramics, valves, bearings, tools and other industrial components in the long-term work wear and corrosion conditions, tungsten carbide spraying protective coating, can effectively alleviate the matrix failure, prolong the service life.

Tungsten has excellent properties such as high melting point, high hardness and so on. Copper has good thermal conductivity and conductivity. The W-Cu composites, consisting of tungsten and copper, have good thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion coefficient. The traditional methods for the preparation of tungsten copper alloys include infiltration method, ionic thermal spraying and laminating powder metallurgy.

The extranuclear electron arrangement of tungsten carbide (WC) possesses the platinum-like catalytic activity due to its similarities with platinum, which can be used as a catalyst in the electrochemical field and has become a hot research topic due to its excellent resistance to H₂S and CO poisoning , but its electrocatalytic activity is far less than platinum and other precious metal catalysts. Therefore, the improvement of activity is the key and the technical problem facing WC substitution or partial replacement of platinum and other precious metal catalysts.