Preparation and Catalytic Properties of Graphene-Bismuth Ferrite Nanocrystal Nanocomposite

doi:10.15541/jim20200594

Abstract

Abstract:

BiFeO₃ (BFO) is a novel recyclable photocatalyst which benefits from its appropriate theoretical band gap and room temperature ferromagnetism, yet the relatively high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and low quantum yield limit its practical catalytic performance. Here, a composite material of reduced graphene oxide and BiFeO₃ nanocrystals (RGO-BFO) was successfully prepared via a hydrothermal self-assembly process with about 10wt% RGO loaded 85wt% BFO nanocrystalline (~10 nm). Specific surface area of the composite is about 5 times of that of pure BFO particles. Furthermore, this nanocomposite demonstrates the enhanced ultraviolet absorption behavior as well as its intrinsic visible light absorption, with an energy gap (E_g) of 2.0 eV, which is about 10% lower than BFO particles (2.3 eV). As a result, a significantly higher catalytic efficiency of nearly 100% of the RGO-BFO was obtained as compared to the 25% value of BFO after a 40-min process of adsorption and photodegradation for methylene blue. The improved performances may be attributed to the additional photogenerated electron-hole pairs and lower recombination ratio, which can be proved by the result of photoelectric response. As an intrinsically ferromagnetic material, it could be easily recycled from the solvent system, and its repetitive catalytic efficiency maintained 89.1% after 6 cycles, showing a good catalytic stability.

Key words: bismuth ferrite, nanocrystals, graphene, catalytic degradation

CLC Number:

O643

LI Tie, LI Yue, WANG Yingyi, ZHANG Ting. Preparation and Catalytic Properties of Graphene-Bismuth Ferrite Nanocrystal Nanocomposite[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2021, 36(7): 725-732.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Preparation process illustration of the RGO-BFO nanocrystal nanocomposite

Fig. 2 Morphology and composition characterizations of RGO-BFO nanocrystal nanocomposite (a) SEM/EDX; (c-d) TEM/SEAD and (e-f) AFM

Table 1 Comparision of specific surface area between RGO-BFO composite and BFO

Sample	S_BET/(m²·g^-1)	S_Langmuir/(m²·g^-1)	S_T-method/(m²·g^-1)	V_{pore, HK method}/(cm³·g^-1)	D_{pore, HK method}/nm
RGO-BFO	23.124	39.536	23.1240	0.00651	0.3675
BFO	4.763	7.237	1.8463	0.15020	1.9020

Fig. 3 Structure and composition analysis of RGO-BFO nanocrystal nanocomposite (a) XRD patterns; (b) FT-IR spectra; (c) Raman spectra; (d) TG curves; (e-f) XPS peaks

Fig. 4 Physical properties and photocatalytic MB degradation performances of RGO-BFO nanocrystal nanocomposite (a) M-H magnetic curve; (b-c) UV-Vis absorption spectra and calculated result of optical band gap; (d) Absorption spectra of MB solution under various time nodes; (e) Degradation effects of various controlled samples; (f) Cyclic performance of the composite

Fig. 5 Photoelectric response mechanism of RGO-BFO nanocrystal nanocomposite (a) Photogenerated currents of the controlled sample; (b) Degradation mechanism of the nanocrystal composite

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