Facile synthesis of porous InNbO4 nanofibers by electrospinning and their enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic properties

• A facile electrospinning method is developed to prepare porous InNbO4 nanofibers.
• Porous InNbO4 nanofibers exhibit high efficient UV–visible light photoactivity.
• The reaction condition for porous fibrous photocatalysts is mild.
• The photo-activity of porous InNbO4 nanofibers was much higher than the InNbO4 crystallites prepared by the high-temperature solid-state reaction.

Porous InNbO4 nanofibers with diameters of 50–100 nm were prepared by a facile electrospinning method combined with subsequent annealing. The resulting photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS), and nitrogen-sorption analysis. The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts was evaluated by degradation of Rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation. Results demonstrate that the photocatalytic activity of the as-formed porous InNbO4 nanofibers by electrospinning is improved, in comparison to that of the InNbO4 crystallites that were prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction. The enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity is attributed to the porous nanofibrous architecture, high surface area, and narrower band gap.