Low-temperature synthesis of InVO4 doped TiO2 sol and visible-light photocatalytic activities of InVO4-TiO2 films

The InVO4 sol was obtained by a mild hydrothermal treatment at 150°C for 4h. InVO4 doped TiO2 sol had been prepared through blending InVO4 sol into TiO2 sol. Novel InVO4-TiO2 thin films on glass slides were synthesized via a sol–gel dipping method from the composite sol. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. From the visible-light photocatalytic experimental results, it has been demonstrated that the composite film with 3.0wt.% InVO4 content exhibits the highest visible-light photocatalytic activity. The band gap of the InVO4-TiO2 thin films with 3.0wt.% InVO4 was estimated to be about 2.32eV.