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.