A facile fabrication of nitrogen-doped electrospun In2O3 nanofibers with improved visible-light photocatalytic activity

作者：Lu, Na; Shao, Changlu^*; Li, Xinghua^*; Miao, Fujun; Wang, Kexin; Liu, Yichun

来源：Applied Surface Science, 2017, 391: 668-676.

DOI：10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.07.057

• In2O3 nanofibers
• Electrospinning
• Gaseous ammonia treatment
• Interstitial nitrogen doping
• Visible light photocatalysis

Semiconductor photocatalysis demonstrates to be an effective approach for eliminating most types of environment contaminants and for producing hydrogen. Herein, a facile synthesis route combining electrospinning technique and thermal treatment method under NH3 atmosphere has been presented as a straightforward protocol for the fabrication of nitrogen-doped In2O3 (N-In2O3) nanofibers, the nitrogen content of which can be well controlled by adjusting the annealing temperature. Photocatalytic tests show that the N-In2O3 nanofibers demonstrate an improved degradation rate of Rhodamine B (RB) compared with pure In2O3 nanofibers under visible-light irradiation. This can be attributed to the nitrogen atom introducing at interstitial sites as well as the generation of oxygen vacancy on the surface of In2O3 nanofibers, resulting in the enhanced utilization of visible light for the N-In2O3 nanofibers. Furthermore, the obtained N-In2O3 nanofibers with the advantage of ultra-long one-dimensional nanostructures can be recycled several times by facile sedimentation and hence present almost no decrease in photocatalytic activity indicative of a well regeneration capability. Therefore, the as-fabricated nitrogen-doped In2O3 nanofibers as a promising photocatalyst present good photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant in waste water for practical application.

• 出版日期2017-1-1
• 单位东北师范大学