Single BiFeO3 and mixed BiFeO3/Fe2O3/Bi2Fe4O9 ferromagnetic photocatalysts for solar light driven water oxidation and dye pollutants degradation

A simple synthesis route is presented to obtain single BiFeO3 and mixed BiFeO3/Fe2O3/Bi2Fe4O9 photocatalysts. The obtained samples were characterized to analyze their structural, magnetic, optical and physical–chemical properties. The role of additional phases, i.e. Bi2Fe4O9 and Fe2O3 in the BiFeO3 structure, was analyzed by investigating sunlight-driven water oxidation and degradation of different dye pollutants. The achieved results suggest formation of BiFeO3/Fe2O3/Bi2Fe4O9 heterojunction-like interfaces, that induce lower e−/h+ recombination rate, thus enhancing photoactivity than bare BiFeO3. Additionally, BiFeO3/Fe2O3/Bi2Fe4O9 has exclusive feature of being magnetically separated from treated media and its stability was demonstrated for at least 3 cycles of dye degradation.