In2O3/Bi2Sn2O7 heterostructured nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic activity

In2O3/Bi2Sn2O7 composite photocatalysts with various contents of cubic In2O3 nanoparticles were fabricated by using impregnation method. A thriving modification of Bi2Sn2O7 by an introduction of In2O3 was confirmed by using X-ray diffraction, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The samples composed of hybrids of In2O3 and Bi2Sn2O7 exhibited a much higher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light, as compared with pure In2O3 and Bi2Sn2O7 nanoparticles. Optimized composition of the composite photocatalysts was 0.1In2O3/Bi2Sn2O7, which shows a rate constant higher than those of pure In2O3 and Bi2Sn2O7 by 4.06 and 3.21 times, respectively. Based on Mott-Schottky analysis and active species detection, the photoexcited electrons in the conduction band of In2O3 and the holes in the valence band of Bi2Sn2O7 participated in reduction and oxidation reactions, respectively. Hence, OH, O2− and h+ were the main active species involved in the photocatalytic reaction of the In2O3/Bi2Sn2O7 composite photocatalysts. The effective separation process of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs was testified by photocurrent test.