Multiferroic materials, in which magnetic and ferroelectric orders co-exist, have attracted rigorous investigations in the field of materials science research due to their unique electric, magnetic and optical properties. Among these, bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) with perovskite structure has been investigated extensively, both in pure and doped form, due to its fascinating multiferroic properties and wide range of multifunctional applications. Besides the intriguing multiferroic properties of BiFeO3 (BFO), its photocatalytic properties are quite promising in visible light regime. Furthermore, addition of rare earth material e.g. Gd to form Gd-doped BFO (BGFO) is also auspicious in order to enhance magnetization and visible light photocatalytic activity of BGFO. It is worth mentioning that graphene, the thinnest known material in the world, possesses remarkable properties such as excellent electrical conductivity, electron mobility, thermal conductivity, large specific surface area etc. Owing to its outstanding properties, graphene is being used frequently as an ideal support to integrate with a large number of functional nanomaterials to form unique nanocomposites with improved performances in the fields of photocatalysts. A suitable nanocomposite incorporating rare earth doped bismuth ferrite into reduced graphene oxide (rGO) may be promising to enhance magnetization and also to stimulate the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs to improve their photocatalytic activities. Therefore, the aim of this research project is to prepare rare-earth doped BFO-rGO nanocomposites to investigate their structural, magnetic and photocatalytic properties.
Graphene based nanocomposites
