Hydrothermal synthesis of porous rh-In2O3 nanostructures with visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline

In this paper, well-defined 3D flower-like porous rhombohedral In2O3 (rh-In2O3) nanostructures were successfully synthesized via the hydrothermal method combined with post-thermal treatments. Interestingly, 3D flower-like c-In2O3 nanostructures could also be obtained by simply adjusting the annealing temperature according to this reaction route. The possible growth mechanism of the obtained flower-like In2O3 nanostructures was proposed based on a series of contrasting experimental observations depending on the different reaction conditions as well as our understanding. What's more, we also investigated the photocatalytic activities of bulk In2O3, 3D flower-like rh-In2O3, and c-In2O3 nanostructures for the degradation of tetracycline (TC) under visible light. Photocatalytic degradation results indicated that 3D flower-like porous rh-In2O3 nanostructures exhibited the highest photocatalytic activities. The possible photocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of TC in 3D flower-like porous rh-In2O3 nanostructures was also discussed.