Synthesis and characterization of morphology-controllable BiFeO3 particles with efficient photocatalytic activity

The single phase BiFeO₃ (BFO) particles were synthetised by a facile hydrothermal method under the special sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration. The particles have been systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction technique, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV–vis spectra. It is found that a wide range of NaOH concentration of 1–3 M could induce a high crystalline quality of BFO. Interestingly, it is noted that different NaOH concentrations have a significant effect on the morphology of BFO particles. With the increase of NaOH concentration, the morphology changes from alveolate BFO to cubic BFO particles. Moreover, the light absorption characteristics and the band gap of BFO particles are strongly dependent on their morphology. This result in the difference of photocatalytic degradation ability of alveolate BFO particles compared to that of cubic BFO particles.