Structural, photocatalytic and magnetic characteristics of aerogel graphene/bismuth ferrite nanocomposite

In this research, Graphene/ Bismuth aerogel nanocomposite was fabricated by hydrothermal method and it’s structural, magnetic and photocatalytic properties were investigated. For this purpose, aerogel of nanocomposites were prepared with a concentration of 4 for graphene oxide and concentrations of 0.2, 0.5 and 1 mg/ml for Bismuth ferrite. Phase and structural studies with XRD and FT-IR analyzes confirm the formation of bismuth ferrite with a rhombohedral structure of perovskite type and reduction of graphene oxide. The SEM images show the porous structure of graphene aerogel well. TEM analysis confirms the composite of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles in the structure of graphene aerogel. The energy gap of the samples was calculated from the results of UV-Visible spectroscopy. Based on the parameter measured by the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), it shows a decrease in the magnetization saturation of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles after composite with graphene aerogel. Methyl blue decomposition was evaluated by bismuth ferrite nanoparticles and graphene/ferrite bismuth nanocomposites using UV-Vis apparatus. The best photocatalytic performance of graphene/bismuth ferrite aerogel is in the sample with 0.5 mg/ml concentration.