Optical and Structural Characterization of Bi2FexNbO7 Nanoparticles for Environmental Applications

Abstract

Photocatalytic materials development is very important in the environmental perspective. They can be employed in clean energy production by hydrogen generation as well as in wastewater treatment by photocatalysis. One of the key subjects in this area is the advancement of materials with low band gap, thus the catalyst can use the sunlight more efficiently. Based on this issue, this research aims to develop photocatalysts based on bismuth, niobium and iron (Bi2FexNbO7), analyze the influence of iron concentration (x = 0, 0.8, 1 and 1.2) and characterize through optical and structural analysis. The powder samples were synthetized by sol gel method. Band gap estimation was performed throw UV-Vis analysis and Kubelka-Munk method. XRD technique was employed to phase determination and structural characterization. The catalyst with no iron (Bi2NbO7) presented a mix of three phases from reagents and a band gap of 3.14 eV. The iron addition promotes crystalline photocatalysts with high visible light absorption ability and hence lower band gap, 2.09 eV. Further analysis must be performed; however, based on structural and optical proprieties, these materials can efficiently be employed both in wastewater treatment and hydrogen production.