Structural, optical, magnetic properties and visible light photocatalytic activity of BiFeO₃/graphene oxide nanocomposites

In this paper, structural, magnetic, optical, and photocatalytic properties of BiFeO₃/graphene oxide (BFO/GO) nanocomposites have been compared with BFO nanoparticles. To obtain the optimum photocatalytic activity, GO nanosheets were mixed at different weight percentages (wt%) with BFO nanoparticles using high-intensity ultra-sonication. The samples were analyzed using x-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The magnetization curves show that mixing 9 wt% GO with BFO (BFO-GO9) with respect to BFO indicates a weak ferromagnetic behavior. The photocatalytic tests indicate that that the amount of pH and catalyst dosage all significantly influenced the catalytic performance of BFO/GO for degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange. Although the photocatalytic activity of BFO/GO nanocomposites has been enhanced with the weight percentage of GO, the BFO-GO9 photocatalyst having smaller particle size presents advantages such as high removal efficiency, low cost, and non-toxicity. (paper)