Enhancement of photocatalytic hydrogen production of BiFeO3 by Gd3+ doping

In order to investigate the influence of Gd3+ doping on the photocatalytic activity of BiFeO3, BiFeO3 and BiFeO3:Gd3+ photocatalysts were fabricated by the sol-gel process. The phase, photocatalytic hydrogen production, microstructure, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the fabricated photocatalysts were investigated. BiFeO3:Gd3+ photocatalyst has a larger ability for the hydrogen production in photocatalysis process than that of BiFeO3. The reason of the higher photocatalytic activity of BiFeO3:Gd3+ photocatalyst was revealed by the measurements of UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectra, photocurrent curves and electrochemical impedance spectra. Moreover, the magnetic properties of BiFeO3 and BiFeO3:Gd3+ photocatalysts were also investigated to show the easy separation. These results in current work indicate that BiFeO3:Gd3+ is an excellent photocatalyst and has potential applications in photocatalytic hydrogen production.