Controlled synthesis and photocatalytic properties of porous hollow In ₂O₃ microcubes with different sizes

Uniform single-crystalline In(OH)₃ hollow microcubes have been synthesized in large quantities via a hydrothermal reaction of InCl₃ with NaF and ethylene glycol (EG) at 140-220 °C for 12 h. Porous In ₂O₃ hollow microcubes with a polycrystalline cubic structure can be obtained via calcining In(OH)₃ precursors at 400 °C for 2 h in air. Controlled Synthesis of In(OH)₃ and In ₂O₃ hollow microcubes with the average edge lengths in the range of 2.0-4.7 μm can be achieved by changing the hydrothermal reaction temperature. The In(OH)₃ hollow microcubes were formed via an EG-assisted oriented attachment growth route using HF bubbles as the templates. Photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized porous In₂O ₃ hollow microcubes were studied at room temperature. The results indicated that the hollow In₂O₃ nanostructures display high photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation of rhodamine B and methyl orange.