Facile coprecipitation synthesis of novel Bi12TiO20/BiFeO3 heterostructure serie with enhanced photocatalytic activity for removal of methyl orange from water

A series of Bi12TiO20/BiFeO3 heterostructures sample were manufactured via coprecipitation method. The obtained powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The crystal structure of a series was recognized to be well indexed on the basis of the cubic Bi12TiO20 and rhombohedral BiFeO3. TEM images reveal nanoparticles of similar to 17 nm in diameter and nanowires with similar to 144 nm in length and similar to 17 nm in width. The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared Bi12TiO20/BiFeO3 heterostructures in the degradation of Methyl Orange (MO) under UV irradiation was investigated. TheBi(12)TiO(20)/BiFeO3 heterostructures showed a higher photocatalytic performance in decomposing MO, particularly the case of 0.60Bi(12)TiO(20)/0.40BiFeO(3). The photocatalytic decomposition of MO follows first order reaction kinetic with an apparent reaction rate constant of 0.018 min(-1). This property can be due to the particles size and/or of the formation of heterojunction between Bi12TiO20 and BiFeO3 which contributes to the efficient separation of electron-hole pairs. The Bi12TiO20/BiFeO3 heterostructures can be reused tree times without a significant photoactivity loss.