Enhancement of the visible light photocatalytic activity of heterojunction In2O3/BiVO4 composites

Novel In2O3/BiVO4 heterojunction composite photocatalysts with tunable In2O3 content were prepared using a mild hydrothermal method. The structure, composition, and optical properties of the In2O3/BiVO4 composites were determined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, photocatalytic activities of the as-prepared composites were investigated by studying the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solutions under simulated visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm). It was found that the 50 % proportion of In2O3 in the In2O3/BiVO4 composite exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance, leading to 91 % decomposition of MB within 240 min of irradiation.