Building Niobate Nanoparticles with Hexaniobate Lindqvist Ions

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We present a general method to fabricate niobate nanoparticles (NPs) by using hexaniobate Lindqvist ions as niobium source. First, soft‐chemical synthesis was adopted to prepare amorphous compound NPs, which subsequently served as parent bodies, affording not only nanoscale size but also optimal compositions and elements for the final annealed nanocrystalline niobates. By this method, a series of nanocrystalline niobates, including MNbO 4 (M = In, Ga, Fe), MNb 2 O 6 (M = Ba, Sr, Ni, Cd, Pb), M x Fe 1– x NbO 4 (M = In, Ga), M x Ni 1– x Nb 2 O 6 (M = Ba, Sr), and (AgNb) 1– x (SrTi) x O 3 , were successfully prepared. Experimental results presented herein show that the compositions and components of niobate NPs can be adjusted as desired, markedly influencing the crystal phase, energy band structure, and photocatalytic performance of the niobate NPs.