Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Properties of Perovskite LaFeO₃ Nanoparticles

Orthorhombic structure of rare earth perovskite-type oxide LaFeO₃ nanoparticles with light absorption properties in the visible range was prepared by co-precipitation method. The prepared nanoparticles was characterized by several measurements such as X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, field emission scanning electron microscope, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Methylene blue was taken as the model pollutant to evaluate its photocatalytic, sonocatalytic, photosonocatalytic degradation in the presence of LaFeO₃ nanoparticles. The degradation of methylene blue followed the pseudo-first order model in all three processes. The observed rate constants indicate that the photosonocatalytic was faster than the respective individual. Radical scavenger experiments revealed that holes were the predominant oxidative species involved in all three processes.