A novel In ₂ O ₃ nanorods/graphene heterostructure for enhanced photocatalysis

Abstract To address the increasingly severe ecological degradation, photocatalytic technology has attracted significant attention due to its pollution-free nature and the abundance of renewable resources. Numerous semiconductor photocatalysts have been developed. However, their performance has long been constrained by the rapid recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. In this study, the In 2 O 3 nanorods loaded with graphene structure has been fabricated, where In ₂ O ₃ nanorods were prepared using the glancing angle deposition technique. The research aims to suppress the recombination of photogenerated carriers in In ₂ O ₃ by leveraging the high electron mobility of graphene, thereby enhancing its photocatalytic performance. Under the optimal graphene loading conditions, the photocurrent density of In ₂ O ₃ /graphene is as high as 0.6 mA cm −2 . The photocurrent density and degradation efficiency has been improved by 81.82% and 33.5% compared to pure In ₂ O ₃ nanorods, respectively. This enhancement can be attributed to the built-in electric field formed between graphene and In ₂ O ₃ , which facilitates rapid electron transfer and effectively suppresses charge recombination, thereby improving the overall photocatalytic performance.