Nanostructured hexahedron of bismuth ferrite clusters: delicate synthesis processes and an efficient multiplex catalyst for organic pollutant degradation

A novel bismuth ferrite, with the simultaneous formation of nanostructured clusters and controllable morphologies, was fabricated using a delicate synthesis process. By carefully controlling all processes from co-precipitation at a low temperature in water to hydrothermal treatment in methanol/water...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:RSC advances 2015-01, Vol.5 (106), p.86891-86900
Main Authors: Hu, Zhong-Ting, Lua, Shun Kuang, Yan, Xiaoli, Lim, Teik-Thye
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bismuth
Clusters
Degradation
Ferrite
Illumination
Morphology
Multiplexing
Nanostructure
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A novel bismuth ferrite, with the simultaneous formation of nanostructured clusters and controllable morphologies, was fabricated using a delicate synthesis process. By carefully controlling all processes from co-precipitation at a low temperature in water to hydrothermal treatment in methanol/water co-solvent system, nanostructured bismuth ferrite clusters with controllable morphologies composed of small bismuth ferrite crystals ( similar to 25 nm) could be obtained. The fast crystal growth of the bismuth ferrites has been successfully hindered and a relatively pure mullite (Bi sub(2)Fe sub(4)O sub(9)) structure of the nanostructured bismuth ferrite clusters could be obtained. Their morphologies could be cube-, cuboid- and plate-like shapes with a side length of similar to 400 nm, a height of similar to 600 nm and a thickness of similar to 80 nm. The resulting nanostructured bismuth ferrite clusters show good crystallinity, uniform elemental distributions, high chemical stability, good dispersity, reusability, and a narrow bandgap of similar to 2.1 eV. They have remarkable multiplex catalytic activities in the degradation of methyl orange (MO) through visible-light photo-Fenton oxidation, dark Fenton-like reaction and solar photocatalysis. Under visible-light illumination, 99% of MO could be removed in 80 min. Without illumination, 96% of MO could be removed in 4 h. A plausible mechanism of the multiplex catalytic activities is proposed.
ISSN:2046-2069
2046-2069
DOI:10.1039/c5ra16409e