Hydrothermal synthesis of In2O3 nanoparticles hybrid twins hexagonal disk ZnO heterostructures for enhanced photocatalytic activities and stability

Abstract

In₂O₃ nanoparticles hybrid twins hexagonal disk (THD) ZnO with different ratios were fabricated by a hydrothermal method. The as-obtained ZnO/In₂O₃ composites are constituted by hexagonal disks ZnO with diameters of about 1 μm and In₂O₃ nanoparticles with sizes of about 20-50 nm. With the increase of In₂O₃ content in ZnO/In₂O₃ composites, the absorption band edges of samples shifted from UV to visible light region. Compared with pure ZnO, the ZnO/In₂O₃ composites show enhanced photocatalytic activities for degradation of methyl orange (MO) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) under solar light irradiation. Due to suitable alignment of their energy band-gap structure of the In₂O₃ and ZnO, the formation of type п heterostructure can enhance efficient separation of photo-generate electro-hole pairs and provides convenient carrier transfer paths.