Efficient Visible Light Driven Photocatalytic Removal of RhB and NO with Low Temperature Synthesized In(OH)_xS_y Hollow Nanocubes: A Comparative Study

In this work, we report that RhB and NO could be effectively removed under visible light with hollow In(OH)_xS_y nanocubes fabricated at a low temperature of 80 °C. The photocatalytic experiments revealed that these low temperature synthesized hollow In(OH)_xS_y nanocubes were more efficient than P25 and In(OH)_xS_y counterpart hydrothermally synthesized at 180 °C (In(OH)_xS_y-180). The porous structures, larger surface area, and new valence band of low temperature synthesized hollow In(OH)_xS_y nanocubes were thought to account for their superior photocatalytic activity. Among all the In(OH)_xS_y samples, the one with original S/In ratio of 0.500 in synthetic solution exhibited the highest photocatalytic removal efficiencies of RhB, while the other with original S/In ratio of 1.000 removed NO most efficiently. We systematically studied the photocatalytic process of RhB on In(OH)_xS_y and analyzed their different photocatalytic performances on removing RhB and NO. This study reveals that these hollow In(OH)_xS_y nanocubes are promising for environmental remediation.