Fabrication of In2O3/TiO2 nanotube arrays hybrids with homogeneously developed nanostructure for photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

[Display omitted] •A new class of plate-like In2O3/TNAs photocatalyst is successfully fabricated.•The obtained In2O3/TNAs hybrid presents a well-aligned nanotubular structure.•In2O3 particles are dispersed homogeneously on TNAs without blocking the nozzles.•In2O3/TNAs hybrid shows a much enhanced Rhodamine B degradation efficiency.•In2O3/TNAs hybrid demonstrates an excellent recycling capability. To enhance the photocatalytic recycling capability of the TiO2-based photocatalysts, a new kind of plate-like In2O3/TiO2 nanotube array (TNA) hybrids is fabricated herein by constructing TNAs via an anodization method followed by doping In2O3 via a solvothermal method. The obtained In2O3/TNA hybrid demonstrates a well-aligned nanotubular structure with homogeneous dispersion of In2O3 nanoparticles. It shows a much higher degradation rate of 77% after 2 h compared to TNA (37%). In addition, the plate-like feature endows the photocatalysts with an excellent recycling capability. These superior photocatalytic degradation performances can be ascribed to the following factors: (1) the enhanced light absorption ability and efficient separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs derived from the formation of the heterostructure between the interface of TiO2 and In2O3; (2) the efficient transport of reactant molecules provided by the well-defined TNAs and the homogeneous distribution of the In2O3 nanoparticles without blocking the nanotubes.