Fabrication and photocatalytic property of α-Bi2O3 nanoparticles by femtosecond laser ablation in liquid

α-Bi2O3 nanoparticles have been produced by femtosecond laser ablation in ethanol at room temperature. Their crystal structure, crystal phase, shape and size distribution, and photophysical property are investigated using X-ray diffraction, Raman, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM and UV–vis spectroscopy. The α-Bi2O3 nanoparticles produced by laser ablation with two particle size population distributions having the mean particle size of ∼10 and ∼60 nm exhibited a good photocatalytic activity on the photodegradation of indigo carmine under 365 nm light emitting diode irradiation.