Hydrothermal synthesis of coral-like palladium-doped BiFeO3 nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic and magnetic properties

Coral-like palladium-doped BiFeO3 (Pd/BFO) nanocomposite was synthesized via a simple two-step hydrothermal route. X-ray diffraction, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray and vibrating sample magnetometer were used to investigate the crystallinity, morphology, optical and magnetic features of the samples. The synthesized samples exhibited enhanced visible light photoactivity for the degradation of malachite green dye as compared to those of pure BFO and commercial TiO2. The enhancement in the photoactivity was attributed to the formation of heterojunction between the Pd and BFO, which was beneficial for yield of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals as confirmed by photoluminescence-terephthalic acid test. Owing to the magnetic behavior of coral-like Pd/BFO, this nanocomposite can also be easily recovered by a magnetic field along with good reusability.