Hydrothermal Synthesis of a CaNb2O6 Hierarchical Micro/Nanostructure and Its Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

• Published in: European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2010-03, Vol.2010 (8), p.1275-1282
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yingwei, Liu, Chao, Pang, Guangsheng, Jiao, Shihui, Zhu, Shiyao, Wang, Dong, Liang, Daxin, Feng, Shouhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hydrothermal synthesis; Nanostructures; Niobium; Photocatalysis
• ISSN: 1434-1948; 1099-0682
• DOI: 10.1002/ejic.200900853

A novel CaNb2O6 hierarchical micro/nanostructure was successfully fabricated under mild hydrothermal conditions in the absence of templates or organic additives. In this hierarchical micro/nanostructure, the nanosheets grow vertically on the surface of the one‐dimensional microneedles whose axial direction is along the c‐axis, and the single crystalline nanosheets are parallel to the (020) planes. A two‐step nucleation–growth mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the CaNb2O6 hierarchical micro/nanostructure, based on the observation of a time‐dependent morphology evolution process. The hierarchically structured CaNb2O6 exhibits a stronger enhancement of photocatalytic activity in the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) than other morphological CaNb2O6 samples, such as nanoparticles, nanoribbons, and microneedles. This simple hydrothermal method provides a new general approach for the synthesis of potentially useful niobates. A CaNb2O6 hierarchical micro/nanostructure was successfully fabricated under mild hydrothermal conditions without templates. There are nanosheets standing vertically on the surface of the microneedles in the hierarchical structure. This structural feature could lead to a good photocatalytic performance in the decomposition of RhB. A two‐step nucleation–growth mechanism is proposed.