Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye under visible light using cerium-cobalt co-doped bismuth ferrite nanoparticles

Abstract The present study designates the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of RhB dye using cerium-cobalt co-doped BiFeO 3 nanoparticles. Nanoparticles of Ce 0.1 Co x Bi 1-x Fe 2 O 3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) have been facilely synthesized via sol-gel auto-combustion method. FESEM analysis revealed the irregular-shaped nanoparticles with agglomerated coalescence behaviour and the element composition in Ce 0.1 Co x Bi 1-x Fe 2 O 3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) was confirmed in EDX. The crystallite size can be calculated around 64 nm to 71 nm for pure BiFeO 3 nanoparticles and in range of 41 nm to 60 nm for the co-doped BiFeO 3 nanoparticles. XRD diffraction confirmed the presence of secondary phase (Sillenite) and tertiary phase (Millate) when dopant concentration increased. From TGA profile, the ideal annealing temperature of 600 °C have been confirmed for all samples. Furthermore, the photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye has been improved via cerium-cobalt co-doping. UV spectra showed that the RhB dye solution constantly changes pink colour into colourless within 20 minutes of visible light irradiation to fully degraded.