Fe-Doped Di-Bismuth Tetra-Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application

In this research work, undoped and Fe-doped Bi 2 O 4 thin films were synthesized by sol-gel dip coating technique. The x-ray diffraction results confirmed the formation of the monoclinic phase of Bi 2 O 4 with no other impurity peak. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed functional bonds of bismuth oxide in the range of ~ 450–650 cm −1 . Bandgaps of undoped and Fe-doped Bi 2 O 4 films were found in the range of 2.0–1.80 eV, which was an important range for the Fe:Bi 2 O 4 films to be used as window layers in solar cells. Fe-doped Bi 2 O 4 may be employed in spintronics technology because all thin films exhibited ferromagnetic behavior. The dielectric properties of bismuth oxide were enhanced with an increase in Fe dopant percentage. The results of antibacterial activity demonstrated that Fe-doped Bi 2 O 4 was an effective bacteriostatic agent to control the spread and infection caused by these bacterial strains. Compared to undoped Bi 2 O 4 , 5 wt.% of iron-doped Bi 2 O 4 showed the highest photocatalytic performance.