Study on photocatalytic activity of pure and transition metal ion-doped In2O3 nanocubes under sunlight irradiation

In this work,indium oxide (In2O3) nanocubes and 5wt% transition metal (Fe, Mn) ion-doped In2O3 synthesized by template-free hydrothermal method, and their application in degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye was studied and reported. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of the cubic bixbyite structure of In2O3 and the crystallite size of the nanocubeswas in the range from 11 to 13 nm. The Ramanspectroscopy analysis also confirmed the presence of single-phase cubic bixbyite structure in In2O3 by possessing relevant vibrations. The morphology of In2O3 studied by FESEM showed nanocubes of In2O3 with an average size of 55 nm. The optical bandgapwas obtained in the range of 2.83-2.68 eV. The photocatalytic performance of pure and Mn and Fe doped In2O3 was studied on MB dye under the sunlight irradiation for 270 min, in which 5wt% Fe-doped In2O3 showed the enhanced efficiency of 82% degradation of MB.