Tb-doped BiFeO3 nanostructure and its composite with CNTs to improve the light-harvesting properties

This study aims to investigate the usage of TbxBi1-xFeO3 (x = 0.0, 0.020) composite with CNTs as photocatalyst for the photodegradation of pendimethalin and crystal violet dye. Using the wet chemical and ultra-sonication method, uniformly sized BiFeO3, Tb-doped BiFeO3, and Tb-doped BiFeO3/CNT composite samples were prepared. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) were utilized for characterization purpose. The crystallite size of the BiFeO3 particles with cubic spinel structure was observed to be 25.2 nm. Following the pseudo-first-order kinetics, the as-synthesized photocatalyst was found to have excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency for the degradation of crystal violet and pendimethalin. Tb-BiFeO3/CNTs degrade pendimethalin by 55% and crystal violet by 63.5% with better rate constants than its counterparts. The better photocatalytic activity was displayed via Tb-BiFeO3/CNT composite than other prepared samples due to the incorporation of CNTs which provides greater surface area for photodegradation of harmful pollutants.