Nitrogen-doped bismuth ferrite nanozymes: Tailored electronic structure for organic pollutant degradation

Abstract

The insufficient catalytic activity and non-recyclability of nanozymes are major obstacles for nanozyme-mediated water purification. Since electronic transfer is the basic essence of catalysis-mediated redox reactions, this research reveals that meticulous tuning of the electronic structure of magnetic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) through nitrogen doping, allows for excellent performance in organic pollutants degradation in water (including dyestuff and antibiotics), along with magnet separation-mediated recyclability. Mechanically speaking, nitrogen-doping rational optimize their peroxidase-like activity by increasing the electron density of the Fe-N active center, meanwhile, the tailored bandgap significantly enhances the full-spectrum absorption, especially in the near-infrared region (NIR). Consequently, a light-enhanced N-doped BiFeO₃ nanozyme has been engineered to generate excessive reactive oxygen species (14.63-fold in total) for pollutants degradation with recyclable capacity, 94.27 % for Methylene Blue and over 60 % for multiple antibiotics. This study underscores the efficacy of fine-tuning the electronic structure in enhancing the catalytic performance of nanozymes for organic pollutants removing.