Abstract
We report the synthesis of multiferroic BiFeO
3
perovskite nanoparticles using the microwave combustion technique. Phase evolution is investigated by XRD, which confirms that the formation of a secondary α-Bi
2
O
3
phase with a monoclinic structure along with the existing rhombohedral (BiFeO
3
) structure. The average crystalline size has been found at 50 nm. The optical band gap was calculated from the Tauc’s plot it has been found 2.18 eV. The appearances of FT-IR spectra revealed bands at 550 and 444 cm
−1
were correlated to the rhombohedral stretching modes of BiFeO
3
nanostructure. The surface morphology showed the formation of nanosized grains with pores. The magnetization-Field (M-H) hysteresis curves revealed the appearance of ferrimagnetic behavior at room temperature. The BET surface area of BiFeO
3
perovskite nanoparticles was found 44.86 m
2
/g. The as-fabricated BiFeO
3
perovskite nanoparticles were investigated for their superior catalytic activity in two applications, which include (i) Glycerol to formic acid oxidation in the liquid phase with a high efficiency of over 98 percent, (ii) Under visible light, the photocatalytic breakdown of rhodamine B achieved maximal efficiency (almost 99 percent). Finally, we concluded that the BiFeO
3
perovskite nanoparticles exhibit high performance in future multifunctional devices is demonstrated by the simultaneous enhancement of catalytic and photocatalytic activities.