Single-phase La-substituted bismuth ferrite (Bi 1−x La x FeO 3) nanoparticles have been synthesized by thermal decomposition of a glyoxylate precursor. The crystal structure transition of BiFeO 3 from the rhombohedral (R3c) to the cubic P m3m structure by La addition was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectrometry methods. Furthermore, the Bi 1−x La x FeO 3 nanoparticles showed a weak ferrimagnetism behaviour, while the magnetization increased from 0.18 to 0.48 emu g −1 with La substitution. The Bi 1−x La x FeO 3 nanoparticles exhibited strong absorption in the visible region with the optical band gap calculated from Tauc's plot in the range of 2.19-2.15 eV. Furthermore, the effects of La substitution on the photodegradation of the methylene blue (MB) under visible light were also studied. The photodegradation of MB dye was enhanced from 64 to ∼99% with increasing La substitution from x = 0 to 0.1 and then decreased to 8% for x = 0.15.
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