Development of BiFeO3/Ag3PO4 heterostructures for photocatalytic application

• Grant number: 23/01787-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: April 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Elson Longo da Silva
• Grantee: Ingridi Lemes Breves
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07296-2 - CDMF - Center for the Development of Functional Materials, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The reduction in the treatment of effluents that are effective for the treatment of emerging pollutants has been generating the accumulation of heavy metals, pesticides, dyes, antibiotics, among others that are dumped in water bodies. The amount of these wastes is proportional to the growth of urbanization and the industrial sector, therefore, the need to use cleaner technologies to minimize the generation of waste. Photocatalysis emerges as a promising technology to be applied for the degradation of pollutants, as well as properly transmitted through microbial inactivation, which combined with the use of semiconductors accelerate this reduction process by specific interruption. Among the materials that have been studied, bismuth ferrite (BFO) and silver orthophosphate (Ag3PO4) deserve to be highlighted because, in addition to being good photocatalysts for various pollutants, BiFeO3 is a multiferroic acid and silver orthophosphate is a bactericide. This indicates that developing BFO/Ag3PO4 heterostructures can increase the photocatalytic activity through the synergism of these materials, favor the microbial inactivation process and be easily removed from the process, when considering the multiferroic property of BFO. This Research Project proposes a study to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of BiFeO3/Ag3PO4 heterostructures and an investigation of their bactericidal properties against the emission of pollutants, which may be dyes, pesticides or drugs.