Fabrication of N-TiO2/InBO3 Heterostructures with Enhanced Visible Photocatalytic Performance

A new type of heterostructured photocatalysts (N-TiO2/InBO3) were synthesized by coupling nitrogen-modified TiO2 (N-TiO2) with indium borate (InBO3) via a one-step sol-gel method. It was revealed that N-TiO2/InBO3 exhibited an improved photocatalytic performance compared with TiO2, N-TiO2, and InBO3 under both UV and visible light irradiation because of the formation of a heterostructure at the interface as well as the introduction of surface NOx species and InBO3. These results may provide a paradigm to fabricate and design the optoelectronic functional materials with high efficiency and performance.