Tb-doped BiFeO₃ nanostructure and its composite with CNTs to improve the light-harvesting properties

This study aims to investigate the usage of Tb_xBi_1-xFeO₃ (x = 0.0, 0.020) composite with CNTs as photocatalyst for the photodegradation of pendimethalin and crystal violet dye. Using the wet chemical and ultra-sonication method, uniformly sized BiFeO₃, Tb-doped BiFeO₃, and Tb-doped BiFeO₃/CNT composite samples were prepared. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) were utilized for characterization purpose. The crystallite size of the BiFeO₃ particles with cubic spinel structure was observed to be 25.2 nm. Following the pseudo-first-order kinetics, the as-synthesized photocatalyst was found to have excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency for the degradation of crystal violet and pendimethalin. Tb-BiFeO₃/CNTs degrade pendimethalin by 55% and crystal violet by 63.5% with better rate constants than its counterparts. The better photocatalytic activity was displayed via Tb- BiFeO₃/CNT composite than other prepared samples due to the incorporation of CNTs which provides greater surface area for photodegradation of harmful pollutants.