Sonochemical Synthesis of Indium Nitride Nanoparticles and Photocatalytic Composites with Titania

Abstract

Indium nitride is an excellent semiconductor that belongs to the group of III nitride materials. Due to its unique properties, it is applied to various optoelectronic applications. However, its low thermal stability makes it difficult to synthesize. The present study introduces the synthesis of indium nitride nanoparticles, using ultrasound power (sonochemistry). The sonochemical method provides a low-cost and rapid technique for nanomaterial synthesis. InN nanoparticles were produced in only 3 h through the sonochemical reaction of InCl3 and LiN3. Xylene was used as a reaction solvent. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were adopted for the characterization of the obtained powder. According to our results, ultrasound contributed to the synthesis of InN nanocrystals in a cubic and a hexagonal phase. The obtained InN nanoparticles were further used to decorate titanium dioxide (TiO2) by means of ultrasound. The contribution of InN nanoparticles on the processes of photocatalysis was investigated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB), a typical organic substance acting in place of an environment pollutant. According to the obtained results, InN nanoparticles improved the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 by 41.8% compared with commercial micrometric titania.