Piezo-responsive bismuth ferrite nanoparticle-mediated catalytic degradation of rhodamine B and pathogenic E. coli in aqueous medium and its extraction using external magnetic stimulation after successful treatment

This work reports a solvothermal synthesis of ferromagnetic bismuth ferrite (BFO) nanoparticle and its piezo activity in the domain of catalytic degradation of carcinogenic and genotoxic rhodamine B (RhB) dye and pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria as well. After synthesis and characterization, the structural and morphological features of the catalyst were further investigated using density functional theory (DFT), which enabled us to estimate the polarizability and many other important electrical properties of the synthesized material. The DFT study reveals remarkably high polarizability and dipole moment, which were utilized to validate the generation of piezo response by the synthesized material. Interestingly, we found enhanced piezo catalytic degradation efficiency (eta similar to 99%) along with a high rate constant (k similar to 2.259 x 10(-2) min(-1)), indicating a fast and efficient degradation process. In the case of pathogenic bacteria E. coli, the degradation efficacy was found to be similar to 94%. Moreover, the extraction of this catalyst is quite simple. Due to its high remanent magnetization (retentivity similar to 0.08 emu g(-1)), the catalyst can be extracted from the treated water sample by using external magnetic stimulation, making it a potential candidate for sustainable wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

This study reports the solvothermal synthesis of ferromagnetic bismuth ferrite nanoparticles and explores their piezo activity in catalytic degradation of carcinogenic dye and pathogenic bacteria. The structural and morphological features of the catalyst were investigated using density functional theory, which revealed high polarizability and dipole moment. The synthesized material exhibited enhanced piezo catalytic degradation efficiency and simple extraction, making it a potential candidate for sustainable wastewater treatment.