Preparation of Nanoparticulate YFeO3 by Ultrasonic Assisted Method and its Visible-Light Photocatalytic Properties
Using Fe (NO3)3⋅9H2O, Y(NO3)3⋅6H2O and citric acid as the main raw material, the YFeO3 nanoparticles were synthesized by ultrasonic assisted process and calcination. The YFeO3 nanoparticles were characterized by thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The results show that the perovskite structureYFeO3 (YFeO3-800) can be obtained through the calcination of ultrasonic processed YFeO3 precursors at 800 °C, and the resulting product has a particle size of 70 nm and an optical band gap of 2.0 eV. Consequently, the YFeO3-800 nanoparticles show high photocatalytic activity for decomposition of methyl orange under visible-light irradiation.