Authors: L J Di H Yang G Hu T Xian J Y Ma J L Jiang R S Li Z Q Wei
Publish Date: 2014/03/30
Volume: 25, Issue: 6, Pages: 2463-2469
Abstract
BiFeO3 particles with different morphologies and sizes were synthesized via a hydrothermal process where the morphology and size was tailored by using different KOH concentrations in precursor solution The samples prepared at nKOH = 3 45 6 and 75 M are composed respectively of octahedronshaped particles 500–600 nm cubelike particles 200–500 nm irregular spherical agglomerates 9–16 μm formed from disklike grains with diameter of 14–28 μm and thickness of 02 μm and cuboidshaped particles with lengthtowidth ratio of 141–351 and width size ranging from 80 to 280 nm Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of BiFeO3 particles by a chemical reduction method to produce AgBiFeO3 nanocomposites The photocatalytic activity of prepared samples was evaluated by degrading rhodamine B under simulated sunlight irradiation It is demonstrated that Agdecorated BiFeO3 particles exhibit an enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to bare BiFeO3 particles This can be explained by the effective transfer of photogenerated electrons from the conduction band of BiFeO3 to Ag nanoparticles and hence increased availability of holes for the photocatalytic reaction Hydroxyl radicals were detected by the photoluminescence technique using terephthalic acid as a probe molecule and are found to be produced over the irradiated BiFeO3 and AgBiFeO3 photocatalysts especially an enhanced yield is observed for the latter
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