The Gadolinium (Gd3+) and Tin (Sn4+) Co-doped BiFeO3 Nanoparticles as New Solar Light Active Photocatalyst

Abstract

The process of photocatalysis is appealing to huge interest motivated by the great promise of addressing current energy and environmental issues through converting solar light directly into chemical energy. However, an efficient solar energy harvesting for photocatalysis remains a critical challenge. Here, we reported a new full solar spectrum driven photocatalyst by co-doping of Gd3+ and Sn4+ into A and B-sites of BiFeO3 simultaneously. The co-doping of Gd3+ and Sn4+ played a key role in hampering the recombination of electron-hole pairs and shifted the band-gap of BiFeO3 from 2.10 eV to 2.03 eV. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurement confirmed that the co-doping of Gd3+ and Sn4+ into BiFeO3 increased the surface area and porosity, and thus the photocatalytic activity of the Bi0.90Gd0.10Fe0.95Sn0.05O3 system was significantly improved. Our work proposed a new photocatalyst that could degrade various organic dyes like Congo red, Methylene blue, and Methyl violet under irradiation with different light wavelengths and gave guidance for designing more efficient photocatalysts.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity and Biosensing of Gadolinium Substituted BiFeO3 Nanoparticles

“…Syed Irfan et. al . reported on synthesis of two metal ions (Gd 3+ and Sn 4+ ) co‐doped BF nanoparticles and used as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue, methyl violet and congo red organic dyes.…”

Improved photocatalytic activity of Bi4TaO8Cl by Gd3+ doping

“…Furthermore, it is known that lanthanide ion doping in a photocatalyst can enhance its photocatalytic activity since the doped lanthanide ions acting as the electron or hole trappers lead to the formation and separation of e − –h + pairs during photocatalysis process . Among lanthanide ions, Gd 3+ is recommended as an effective ion for the improvement of photocatalytic activity because it can accelerate the electron transfer rate in the interfacial . To the best of our knowledge, we cannot find the report of Gd 3+ doping on the photocatalytic activity of Bi 4 TaO 8 Cl.…”

Bismuth Ferrites/Graphene Nanoplatelets Nanohybrids for Efficient Organic Dye Removal

“…The average pore diameter and total pore volume for BLFO/GNP is 13.32 nm and 0.184 cm 3 /g, respectively. The surface area of pristine BFO is 3.3 m 2 /g [36] while the surface area for BLFO/GNP is enhanced up to 55 m 2 /g due to the GNP loading inside BLFO nanoparticles. The enhanced surface area is representing the presence of multichannel structure inside BLFO/GNP nanohybrid which permits rapid mass movement and more intake of light harvesting due to increased absorption and multiple light reflections with gas diffusion inside the material's pores [37,38].…”