Hydrothermal Synthesis and Photocatalytic Property of β-Ga2O3 Nanorods

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) nanorods were facilely prepared by a simple hydrothermal synthesis, and their morphology and photocatalytic property were studied. The gallium oxide hydroxide (GaOOH) nanorods were formed in aqueous growth solution containing gallium nitrate and ammonium hydroxide at 95 °C of growth temperature. Through the calcination treatment at 500 and 1000 °C for 3 h, the GaOOH nanorods were converted into single crystalline α-Ga2O3 and β-Ga2O3 phases. From X-ray diffraction analysis, it could be confirmed that a high crystalline quality of β-Ga2O3 nanorods was achieved by calcinating at 1000 °C. The thermal behavior of the Ga2O3 nanorods was also investigated by differential thermal analysis, and their vibrational bands were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In order to examine the photocatalytic activity of samples, the photodegradation of Rhodamine B solution was observed under UV light irradiation. As a result, the α-Ga2O3 and β-Ga2O3 nanorods exhibited high photodegeneration efficiencies of 62 and 79 %, respectively, for 180 min of UV irradiation time.