Abstract
Magnetic-field-accelerated photocatalytic degradation of the phenol red (PR) as a model organic pollutant was studied using rare-earth elements modified BiFeO3 (Bi1−xRxFeO3 (R = Ce, Tb; x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15); BFO: RE) nanostructures. The nanostructures were prepared via the hydrothermal process and their morphological, structural, functional, optical and magnetic features were investigated in detail. The effect of magnetic fields (MFs) on photocatalysis were examined by applying the different MFs under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photodegradation efficiencies were achieved by increasing the MF up to 0.5T and reduced at 0.7T for the compositions x = 0.10 in both Ce and Tb substituted BFO. Further, mineralization efficiencies of PR, reproducibility of MF-assisted photocatalysis, stability and recyclability of BFO: RE nanostructures were also tested.
Highlights
Over the last decades, Bismuth ferrite (BFO) is one of the most efficient and promising materials that have gained much attention in modern scientific research because of its great prospect in resolving energy and environmental issues [1,2]
For the BFO: Tb nanostructures, the lattice fringe spacing were observed as 1.75 Å (122), 1.62 Å (300) and 1.38 Å (214), respectively, in agreement with interplanar distance estimated from the X-ray diffractometry (XRD) analysis
These results suggest the optimum magnetic fields (MFs) to achieve higher photocataly efficiencies is 0.5T, which retards the recombination of charge carriers and improves c rier transport to the surface
Summary
Bismuth ferrite (BFO) is one of the most efficient and promising materials that have gained much attention in modern scientific research because of its great prospect in resolving energy and environmental issues [1,2]. Phenol red (C19H14O5S) [9,10] is one of the groups of organic phenol dye (standard reduction potential value of 0.35V (vs SCE) [11,12]), belongs to the family of triphenylmethane dyes These are extremely brilliant and intensely colored synthetic organic dyes, used in the paper, textile industries, in the coloring of a large variety of products, as well as in the analytical and medical sectors because they can provide the whole coloration range [13]. Many strategies have been developed for improving photocatalytic efficiencies, such as doping with rare-earth (RE) elements [14], making heterojunctions, metal loading etc Despite of these approaches, retarding the high recombination rate of photo-generated carriers is one of the effective approaches to enhance the catalytic performance. By considering the resemblances between photocatalytic and electron transfer reactions, the utilization of MFs to raise the photocatalytic efficiency, i.e., the effect of external MFs on chemical reactions is the MF-assisted photocatalytic activity [27,28], which is an environment-friendly method, and has been extensively discussed and efficiently contributed towards sustainable advancements [29]
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