PVP assisted hydrothermal fabrication and morphology-controllable fabrication of BiFeO₃ uniform nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic activities

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) nanostructures with various morphologies (spindles, cubes and plates) have been successfully synthesized via a convenient one-pot hydrothermal method. The results show that three kinds of BiFeO₃ products were obtained in this polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted hydrothermal reaction under different alkaline conditions. The resulting nanostructures were characterized using XRD and SEM. Possible formation mechanism for BiFeO₃ nanostructures was proposed on the basis of our results. The experiments showed that the visible light absorptive capacity of the BiFeO₃ nanostructures was significant influenced on the size and morphology. Notably, the as-prepared BiFeO₃ plates with (104) facets exposed exhibit high efficiency for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation, suggesting potential applications in photocatalytic and related areas under visible light.