Visible light photocatalytic and magnetic properties of V doped α-FeO (VFO) nanoparticles synthesized by polyol assisted hydrothermal method.

Vanadium-doped α-FeO nanoparticles (VFO nanoparticles) were prepared by polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. The impact on the structure, optical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of α-FeO nanoparticles were studied by varying the vanadium concentration from 1 to 5%. XRD analysis confirms the presence of hematite phase with hexagonal structure and estimates the nanocrystals size as ∼26-38 nm. FESEM and TEM reveal the formation of 3D flower-like morphology bundled with 2D nanoflakes. The estimated band gap energy was in the range 2.01 eV-2.12 eV. XPS study shows the presence of vanadium in V oxidation state in VFO nanoparticles. VSM study shows a non-saturated hysteresis loop with weak ferromagnetic behavior for all the VFO nanoparticles. 5% V doped α-FeO nanoparticles (5%VFO nanoparticles) exhibited superior visible light driven photocatalytic activity compared to other samples.