Photocatalytic activities of multiferroic bismuth ferrite nanoparticles prepared by glycol-based sol-gel process

The uniform multiferroic BiFeO3 nanoparticles with fairly narrow particle size distribution have been successfully synthesized by a simple glycol-based sol-gel route at relatively low temperature. The thus-prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (DTA/TG), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Rapid sintering and subsequently quenching to room temperature are the two vital important factors for the preparation of pure BiFeO3. The ferroelectric phase transition was determined by differential scanning calorimeter analysis (DSC), revealing the ferroelectric nature of the as-prepared BiFeO3 nanoparticles. The strong band-gap absorption at 2.55 eV and the enhanced photocatalytic activities of the BiFeO3 nanoparticles with H2O2 addition may bring some novel applications in water treatment field.