The formation of (NH4)2V6O16 phase in the synthesized InVO4 for the hydrogen evolving applications

•(NH4)2V6O16 and InVO4 can optimized by pH value and hydrothermal treatment time.•InVO4 were composed with (NH4)2V6O16 exhibited a higher reactivity.•InVO4 were composed with (NH4)2V6O16 exhibited improved optical absorption.•The higher photocatalytic activity of the catalyst was attributed to (NH4)2V6O16.

By controlling the synthesized conditions such as the compositions, pH and hydrothermal temperature of the In (or NH4)-V-O compounds, the structural information have been determined with the potential application in the hydrogen evolving efficiency. When the addition of ammonium ions to adjust the pH with the hydrothermal time of 4 h, there is a maximum hydrogen production of 140.8 μmol/g·cat. The maximum hydrogen production reaches at pH of 5. In addition, the (NH4)2V6O16 phase in the synthesized InVO4 has been observed. This crystalline ammonia vanadium-based material is capable to perform the photocatalysis process in hydrogen evolving.