Abstract

A mixture of a nanostructured Rh/RhO2 phase was easily obtained by thermally treating the macromolecular Chitosan·(RhCl3)x precursor, while the Rh/Rh2O3 phase was obtained by pyrolyzing PSP-4-PVP·(RhCl3)x, precursors. The nature of the polymeric precursor acting as a solid-state template does not significantly influence the “foam-like” morphology of the Rh/RhO2 and Rh/Rh2O3 nanoparticles. The size of the obtained products is within the range of 16 nm, as confirmed by HRTEM. A possible formation of the Rh/RhO2 and Rh/Rh2O3 nanoparticles is proposed. The bandgap values estimated from Tauc plots are 3.7 eV, and 3.0 eV for Rh/RhO2 and Rh2O3, respectively. Their photocatalytic activity was measured, for the first time, using a methylene blue pollutant, achieving a photodegradation of 78% for Rh/RhO2 and 70% for Rh/Rh2O3 in 300 min.