The tungsten trioxide with sheet-like nanostructures is grown on wood surfaces via a simple low-temperature hydrothermal method with ethanol as an inducer. The photoresponsive functions of the WO₃/wood are discussed. The morphologies, the phase structure, the ultraviolet(UV) absorption, the photoresponse and the thermal stability are characterized by using the scanning electron microscopy(SEM), the X-ray diffraction(XRD), the ultraviolet-visible(UV-vis) light, the color difference meter and the thermogravimetry(TG) analysis, respectively, and the hydrophobic property is also measured. The SEM results show that the WO₃ nanosheets are uniformly grown on the wood surfaces. The XRD results further reveal that the WO₃ is highly crystallized with a hexagonal structure. The UV-vis analysis shows that the obtained sample sees a remarkable blue shift compared with the pristine wood. The photoresponsive tests show that the sample has an obvious photochromic function under the UV light irradiation. The TG analysis shows that the WO₃ coatings can restrain the degradation of the wood components. In addition, the composite possesses the superhydrophobic property through the octadecyltrichlorosilane(OTS) treatment.

hydrothermal deposition  /  photoresponsive properties  /  tungsten trioxide  /  wetting behavior  /  wood surfaces