Forest like BiFeO3 thin film obtained from Sol-EPD: photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical activities

Recently, photocatalytic thin film was attracted for specific application such as photodegradation of pollutant, production storable energy from water splitting and solar cell [1-3]. As shown in Fig.1, forest like bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) film was synthesized from sol solution by novel sol-electrophoretic deposition (Sol-EPD) method. The crystal structure and the shape of the film and its elemental composition are examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Also atomic force microscopy (AFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) were applied for morphology and magnetism studies. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) studies was performed in 0.5 M Na2SO4 as electrolyte under visible light illumination. Photocurrent was moved to positive values (60 μA) and created photovoltage under illumination which indicated sensivity of film under visible light irradiation. Finally, the prepared thin film was used for photodegradation of phenol in a photocatalytic reactor.