Inorganic salt-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and excellent visible light-driven photocatalytic performance of 3D MnNb2O6 flower-like nanostructures

Abstract

A novel and efficient photocatalyst comprising 3D (three dimensional) flower-like MnNb₂O₆ nanostructures was synthesized via an inorganic salt-assisted hydrothermal method. The morphology and structure of the nanostructures consisted of elegant flower-like nanostructures which were composed of nanosheets. K₂SO₄ played a crucial role in the formation of the nanostructures and the crystal growth process was proposed based on Ostwald ripening. The photocatalytic mechanism and photocatalytic activity of the 3D MnNb₂O₆ flower-like nanostructures were investigated for the photocatalytic degradation of organic methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The 3D MnNb₂O₆ flower-like nanostructures exhibited the highest degradation ratio for MB among different structures of MnNb₂O₆.