Synthesis, characterization, theoretical investigation, and properties of monoclinic-phase InWO₄ hollow nanospheres

As a newly discovered member of the tungstate family, InWO₄ hollow nanospheres with a monoclinic wolframite structure were synthesized successfully. The crystal phase of InWO₄ was investigated via a combination of CASTEP geometric optimization and experimental simulation. InWO₄ has a space group of P2/c with two InWO₄ formula units per unit cell. The optimized cell dimensions are a = 5.16 Å, b = 5.97 Å, and c = 5.23 Å, with α = 90°, β = 92.11°, γ = 90°, giving a unit cell volume of 161.10 ų, which is consistent with the experimental measurements. More importantly, InWO₄ was a promising host material for different Ln³⁺ (Ln = Eu and Yb/Er) ions. For InWO₄: Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ excited at 980 nm, transitions from the ⁴G_11/2 (384 nm), ²H_9/2 (411 nm), and ⁴F_7/2 (487 nm) levels to the ground state (⁴I_15/2) of Er³⁺ were observed. In addition to the aforementioned properties, the InWO₄ hollow nanospheres can be used to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells, which is chiefly attributed to theirlight scattering.