La-and Mn-Codoped Bismuth Ferrite/Ti 3 C 2 MXene Composites for Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Congo Red Dye

Abstract

Over the years, scarcity of fresh potable water has increased the demand for clean water. Meanwhile, with the advent of nanotechnology, the use of nanomaterials for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants in wastewaters has increased. Herein, a new type of nanohybrids of La-and Mn-codoped bismuth ferrite (BFO) nanoparticles embedded into transition-metal carbide sheets (MXene-Ti 3 C 2 ) were prepared by a low-cost double-solvent sol-gel method and investigated for their catalytic activity in dark and photoinduced conditions. The photoluminescence results showed that pure BFO has the highest electron hole recombination rate as compared to all the codoped BFO/Ti 3 C 2 nanohybrids. The higher electron-hole pair generation rate of the nanohybrids provides a suitable environment for fast degradation of organic dye molecules. The band gap of the prepared nanohybrid was tuned to 1.73 eV. Moreover, the BLFO/Ti 3 C 2 and BLFMO-5/Ti 3 C 2 degraded 92 and 93% of the organic pollutant, respectively, from water in dark and remaining in the light spectrum. Therefore, these synthesized nanohybrids could be a promising candidate for catalytic and photocatalytic applications in future.