Synthesis of heterostructured In2O3/BiOCl powders and their visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Rhodamine B

Heterostructured In2O3/BiOCl powders were synthesized by chemical coprecipitation method at room temperature followed by thermal treatment at 400 degrees C for 2 h. The TEM results confirmed the formation of sheet-like BiOCl nanostructures with the thickness of ca. 5-7 nm. In order to investigate the effect of In2O3 on the photocatalytic activity of heterostructured powders, the amount of In2O3 was varied from 0 wt% to 14 wt%. Adsorption and photocatalytic activity of the samples were evaluated for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the dark and under visible light irradiation, respectively. The heterostructured In2O3/BiOCl powders showed high adsorption capacity and enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to P25 and pure BiOCl. Based on the results obtained in this study, the mechanism for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity of heterostructured In2O3/BiOCl powders is discussed. 10 wt% In2O3/BiOCl composite also exhibited good cycle performance for the degradation of RhB under visible light irradiation. (c) 2014 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.