Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of ZnO/In2O3 Heteronanostructures

Homogeneous ZnO/In2O3 heteronanostructure photocatalytic materials were successfully synthesized by a pyrohydrolytic method. The structures and morphologies of ZnO/In2O3 heterostructure were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results indicate that ZnO/In2O3 heterostructures consist of hexagon nanosheet ZnO with diameter of about 200-300 nm and thickness of 40-60 nm decorated with In2O3 nanoparticles. Compared with the degradation efficiency of RhB by pure ZnO, pure In2O3 and ZnO/In2O3, the results show that ZnO/In2O3 heterostructure photocatalysts possess higher photocatalytic efficiency. The enhanced photocatalytic activity is mainly attributed to the role of narrow-band semiconductor In2O3, which could effectively absorb visible light. Photo-excited electrons of In2O3's energy band remove to conduction band of ZnO, while photo-excited holes still remain in In2O3's valence band, which contributes to the separation of photo-generated electrons and holes, decreases recombination probability, and thus improves the photocatalytic efficiency.