Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of In2O3 micro/nanostructures with different morphologies

The special In(OH)3 micro/nanostructures with hollow tube-like, hollow ball-like and rod-like are successfully synthesized by some novel composite soft template methods. The morphologies and sizes of In2O3 micro/nanostructures can be completely preserved after calcinating In(OH)3 precursor. The as-prepared samples were characterized by TEM, FE-SEM, XRD, UV-vis, and BET, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of In2O3 micro/nanostructures with different morphologies was monitored by the degradation of methyl violet aqueous solution under UV-light irradiation. For three In2O3 micro/nanostructures, the hollow tube-like In2O3 exhibits the best photocatalytic activity. The experimental results also demonstrate that the morphologies of as-prepared In2O3 micro/nanostructures exert significant influence on the decolorizing efficiency for methyl violet (MV), which could be attributed to the difference in the amount of light absorption and the specific surface area.