Hydrothermal synthesis of In2O3 nanoparticles hybrid twins hexagonal disk ZnO heterostructures for enhanced photocatalytic activities and stability

In 2 O 3 nanoparticles hybrid twins hexagonal disk (THD) ZnO with different ratios were fabricated by a hydrothermal method. The as-obtained ZnO/In 2 O 3 composites are constituted by hexagonal disks ZnO with diameters of about 1 μm and In 2 O 3 nanoparticles with sizes of about 20–50 nm. With the increase of In 2 O 3 content in ZnO/In 2 O 3 composites, the absorption band edges of samples shifted from UV to visible light region. Compared with pure ZnO, the ZnO/In 2 O 3 composites show enhanced photocatalytic activities for degradation of methyl orange (MO) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) under solar light irradiation. Due to suitable alignment of their energy band-gap structure of the In 2 O 3 and ZnO, the formation of type п heterostructure can enhance efficient separation of photo-generate electro-hole pairs and provides convenient carrier transfer paths.