Abstract

In this work, various BiFeO3 perovskite photocatalysts on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were synthesized using three different gel agents of ethylene glycol (E), citric acid (C), and a combination of citric acid-ethylene glycol (CE). The phsyico-chemical properties of photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM, BET-BJH, UV–Vis DRS, and VSM analyses. The photocatalytic activity of photocatalysts was tested towards the degradation of aqueous acetaminophen (APAP) in a non-thermal plasma reactor at ambient conditions. The results confirm that the highest APAP degradation rate of 90% is obtained by using plasma-photocatalytic oxidation in the presence of BiFeO3/rGO-CE nanocomposite while plasma alone shows a low degradation rate of 30%. To further improve the activity of BiFeO3/rGO-CE, it was doped using different metals like Mn, Zn, La, and Ba. It was confirmed that the APAP degradation rate increases to 98.6% using La-doped BiFeO3/rGO. Characterization analyses confirmed this sample had small nanoparticles with an average diameter of 5–6 nm. The highest BET surface area of 31.79 m2/g and the highest pore volume of 7.31 m3/g was obtained as well. Moreover, the La-doped BiFeO3/rGO showed the highest saturation magnetization of 5.2 emu/g that facilitate the separation of spent catalyst from treated wastewater.

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