Efficient Visible Light Driven Photocatalytic Removal of RhB and NO with Low Temperature Synthesized In(OH)xSy Hollow Nanocubes: A Comparative Study

Abstract

In this work, we report that RhB and NO could be effectively removed under visible light with hollow In(OH)xSy nanocubes fabricated at a low temperature of 80 °C. The photocatalytic experiments revealed that these low temperature synthesized hollow In(OH)xSy nanocubes were more efficient than P25 and In(OH)xSy counterpart hydrothermally synthesized at 180 °C (In(OH)xSy-180). The porous structures, larger surface area, and new valence band of low temperature synthesized hollow In(OH)xSy nanocubes were thought to account for their superior photocatalytic activity. Among all the In(OH)xSy samples, the one with original S/In ratio of 0.500 in synthetic solution exhibited the highest photocatalytic removal efficiencies of RhB, while the other with original S/In ratio of 1.000 removed NO most efficiently. We systematically studied the photocatalytic process of RhB on In(OH)xSy and analyzed their different photocatalytic performances on removing RhB and NO. This study reveals that these hollow In(OH)xSy nanocubes are promising for environmental remediation.