Preparation and Catalytic Properties of Graphene-Bismuth Ferrite Nanocrystal Nanocomposite

BiFeO 3 (BFO) is a novel recyclable photocatalyst which benefits from its appropriate theoretical band gap and room temperature ferromagnetism, yet the relatively high recombination rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and low quantum yield limit its practical catalytic performance.Here, a composite material of reduced graphene oxide and BiFeO 3 nanocrystals (RGO-BFO) was successfully prepared via a hydrothermal self-assembly process with about 10wt% RGO loaded 85wt% BFO nanocrystalline (~10 nm).Specific surface area of the composite is about 5 times of that of pure BFO particles.Furthermore, this nanocomposite demonstrates the enhanced ultraviolet absorption behavior as well as its intrinsic visible light absorption, with an energy gap (E g ) of 2.0 eV, which is about 10% lower than BFO particles (2.3 eV).As a result, a significantly higher catalytic efficiency of nearly 100% of the RGO-BFO was obtained as compared to the 25% value of BFO after a 40-min process of adsorption and photodegradation for methylene blue.The improved performances may be attributed to the additional photogenerated electron-hole pairs and lower recombination ratio, which can be proved by the result of photoelectric response.As an intrinsically ferromagnetic material, it could be easily recycled from the solvent