Enhancement of the Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity of In2O3-TiO2 Nanofiber Heteroarchitectures

One-dimensional In2O3-TiO2 heteroarchitectures with high visible-light photocatalytic activity have been successfully obtained by a simple combination of electrospinning technique and solvothermal process. The as-obtained products were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-vis spectra. The results revealed that the secondary In2O3 nanostructures were successfully grown on the primary TiO2 nanofibers substrates. Compared with the pure TiO2 nanofibers, the obtained In2O3 TiO2 heteroarchitectures showed enhancement of the visible-light photocatalytic activity to degrade rhodamine B (RB) because of the formation of heteroarchitectures, which might improve the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes derived from the coupling effect of TiO2 and In2O3 heteroarchitectures. Moreover, the In2O3-TiO2 heteroarchitectures could be easily recycled without the decrease in the photocatalytic activity because of their one-dimensional nanostructural property.