This work reported the abnormal constraint effect of graphene on the structural and optical properties of in situ grown Gr@WO3 nanobrick (NB) hybrid nanomaterials. Stable hybrid Gr@WO3 nanomaterials were synthesized through a one-step hydrothermal method, in which different graphene contents (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 wt%) were directly introduced into the precursor solution of tungsten oxide. The existence of graphene in the nucleation phase of tungsten oxide NB decreased the crystallite size from 49.5 nm to 45.3 nm, increased the microstrain from 1.10% to 1.44% and the optical bandgap of the hybrid samples from 2.68 eV to 2.78 eV, and reduced the radiative recombination efficiency of tungsten oxide NB. The hybridization between graphene and tungsten oxide NBs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering analysis. The optical properties of materials were studied based on the absorbance and diffuse reflectance spectra. In this work, we also proposed a reliable method to estimate the optical bandgap of the sample from the diffuse reflectance spectrum. These findings would introduce an alternative method of fabrication and enhance the understanding of in situ hybrid materials.
