Investigation on photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet dye using bismuth ferrite nanoparticles

Gadolinium doped bismuth ferrite (Gd:BFO) nanoparticles were synthesized using an auto combustion method. The structural analysis of the prepared Gd: BFO nanoparticles showed that all samples exhibit a rhombohedral structure. The optical analysis shows the doping of Gd ions reduces the band gap value of BFO from 2.21 eV to 2.17 eV. The presence of Fe-O stretching vibrations is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis. The magnetic hysteresis (M-H) analysis shows a weak ferromagnetic nature for the prepared BFO samples and the value of saturation magnetization (Ms) increases upon an increase in the Gd doping concentration. The dielectric analysis shows that the doping of Gd ions in BFO has a notable control in the dielectric loss of the prepared BFO nanoparticles. It was observed the Gd (2 wt%) doped BFO nanoparticles exhibit 84.5% degradation toward crystal violet (CV) dye under visible light irradiation. The formation of trap levels due to Gd 4f state and the role of superoxide anion (O2−) and OHo radicals toward the degradation of CV dye were analyzed.