Photocatalytic disinfection of bacteria under visible light irradiation by BiFeO₃ photocatalyst

Abstract

BiFeO3 nanoparticles was synthesized by sol gel auto combustion. The as-synthesized BiFeO3 were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The disinfection activities towards Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) were examined under visible light irradiation. The results showed a complete inactivation of 3 × 106 CFU/mL S.aureus was achieved within 20 min. The disruption of bacterial cell structure was observed by Transmission electron microscope (TEM). The cells were severely damaged after being exposed to BiFeO3 under visible light irradiation. Hence, the results demonstrated the potential application of perovskite-type photocatalyst, BiFeO3 in photocatalytic disinfection of various microorganisms.

Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Low-Dimensional BiFeO3 System for Photocatalytic Applications

“…Therefore, owing to their high photocatalytic potential, good stability, structural flexibility, ease of synthesis, and ferroelectric properties, PMs show a high potential for the development of more efficient future water splitting devices. Furthermore, the BFO photocatalyst has already been demonstrated for the degradation of organic compounds such as dyes [21][22][23], antibiotics [24], and antibacterials [25], as well as a photoanode for hydrogen production [26]. The BFO photocatalytic activity (band gap engineering and restriction of the recombination rate) was also found to be improved by the incorporation of doping agents such as La [27][28][29], Sm [30], co-catalyst [31], metallic nanoparticles such as gold [32] or silver [33] or by the production of n/p heterojunction [34][35][36].…”

Effect of heavy rare‐earth substitution on physical properties of BiFeO3 thin films and their photocatalytic application

“…Among oxide perovskites, BiFeO 3 has some unique features like stability, low bandgap, and so forth. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] So, it is one of the best candidates for use in photocatalytic applications. Wu et al 7 synthesized BiFeO 3 nanowires by hydrothermal method.…”

“…To solve this problem and enhance the degradation efficiency, oxide perovskites with the general formula of ABO 3 are used as visible light‐responsive photocatalysts owing to their interesting physical properties. Among oxide perovskites, BiFeO 3 has some unique features like stability, low bandgap, and so forth 4–12 . So, it is one of the best candidates for use in photocatalytic applications.…”