Perovskite BiFeO₃ Nanostructure Photocatalysts for Degradation of Organic Pollutants

Environmental remediation is a need of time, due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and changing lifestyles of people. Nanomaterials offer great potential for efficient detection and removal of pollutants due to their vast array of useful properties. Recently, the magnetic property and catalytic activity of Bi-based oxide nanostructures have been exploited for environmental applications such as catalytic oxidation of recalcitrant pollutants and simultaneous magnetic recovery. The loss of the catalyst over cycles can be prenevted and makes these catalyst cost-effective. Thereby, bismuth (Bi)-based oxide nanostructures can serve as the right candidate for sustainable pollutant remediation. Among bismuth (Bi) -based oxide, perovskite type-BiFeO₃ nanostructures are unique potential photocatalyst due to its multiferroic behaviour, narrow band gap and chemical stability. In this chapter, crystal structure, the state-of-the-art in the synthesis, charaterizations and photocatalytic degradation mechanism of BiFeO₃ are discussed. The strategies to improve the photocatalytic performances of BiFeO₃ for organic pollutants are discussed.