Self-assembled 3D microflowery In(OH)3 architecture and its conversion to In2O3

Using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a 3D microflowery indium hydroxide [In(OH)(3)] structure assembled from 2D nanoflakes was fabricated in a large quantity via a hydrothermal approach at relative low temperature. The obtained In(OH)(3) flowers exhibited a narrow size range between 4 and 6 mu m. The properties of these composites were characterized by XRD, EDX, FE-SEM, TEM, SAED, and TGA. In this work, both the use of urea and SDS and the amounts of these components played important roles in the formation of In(OH)3 with different nanostructures. A surfactant-assisted 3D self-assembly and transformation mechanism was inferred from the evolution of the morphology to elucidate the formation of these flowery structures. In addition, In2O3 with a similar morphology could be formed by annealing In(OH)(3) precursors. Furthermore, potentialities of the flowery In2O3 were indicated in detail by N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherm characterization and a photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy investigation.