Enhanced visible-light-response photocatalytic activity of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles

Multiferroic BiFeO(3) nanoparticles were prepared by a sol-gel rapid calcination technique with average diameter of 35 nm with narrow size distribution. The band gap was determined to be 2.06 eV, indicating their potential application as visible-light-response photocatalyst. The photocatalytic behaviors of BiFeO(3) nanoparticles were estimated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. And the photocatalytic activities under different pH values were further studied for the first time. The result shows that the BiFeO(3) nanoparticles exhibit the highest photocatalytic activity in the solution with the lowest pH value, almost 100 times higher than that of the bulk. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.