Controlled synthesis and photocatalytic properties of porous hollow In2O3 microcubes with different sizes

Uniform single-crystalline In(OH)3 hollow microcubes have been synthesized in large quantities via a hydrothermal reaction of InCl3 with NaF and ethylene glycol (EG) at 140–220 °C for 12 h. Porous In2O3 hollow microcubes with a polycrystalline cubic structure can be obtained via calcining In(OH)3 precursors at 400 °C for 2 h in air. Controlled Synthesis of In(OH)3 and In2O3 hollow microcubes with the average edge lengths in the range of 2.0–4.7 μm can be achieved by changing the hydrothermal reaction temperature. The In(OH)3 hollow microcubes were formed via an EG-assisted oriented attachment growth route using HF bubbles as the templates. Photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized porous In2O3 hollow microcubes were studied at room temperature. The results indicated that the hollow In2O3 nanostructures display high photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation of rhodamine B and methyl orange.

► Hollow In(OH)3 microcubes with various sizes were prepared by a hydrothermal route.
► Sizes of In(OH)3 microcubes can be tuned by changing the hydrothermal temperature.
► HF microbubbles served as templates for the formation of hollow In(OH)3 microcubes.
► Porous hollow In2O3 microcubes were obtained by calcining hollow In(OH)3 microcubes.
► Porous hollow In2O3 microcubes show high photocatalysis in dye pollutant degradation.