Effect of Y-doping on optical properties of multiferroics BiFeO3 nanoparticles

Abstract

We have synthesized yttrium-doped bismuth ferrite nanoparticles through a modified Pechini technique. X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer (UV–Vis) probes have been utilized to characterize the nanoparticles. Average particle size estimated from TEM found to be 29 nm for Bi0.99Y0.01FeO3 samples. The band gap of the prepared BFO and BYFO nanoparticles varies from 1.97 to 2.29 eV, that is, within the visible range of the sunlight. This property of these nanoparticles can be utilized in photo catalytic decomposition of organic contaminants, such as Rhodamine-B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. We have explored and observed that RhB degrade up to 8 % while mixed with Bi0.90Y0.1FeO3 for 1 h under 40 W lamp due to photo catalysis together with sensitization.