Room temperature multiferroic nanostructured gallium ferrite based visible light driven photocatalyst for degradation of azine dyes

Gallium ferrite nanoparticles (GFOnps) were synthesized using the sol-gel technique and characterized for their structural, optical, and multiferroic properties. They were also studied for photocatalytic degradation of methyl violet and methylene blue dyes. GFOnps, calcined at 900 ​°C, exhibited an orthorhombic (Pc21n) phase confirmed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. UV–Vis measurements revealed a broad absorption band between 500 ​nm and 800nm, with an energy bandgap (Eg) of 2.08 ​eV calculated using the Tauc plot. Transmission electron microscopy indicated well-distributed particles with sizes ranging from 20 to 40 ​nm. Multiferroic properties were assessed via PE and VSM measurements, showing an irregular PE hysteresis loop and a ferrimagnetic hysteresis loop that did not saturate at 6T. In the photocatalytic study, GFOnps achieved 97 ​% degradation of Methyl Violet in 120 ​min and 56.6 ​% degradation of Methylene Blue in 150 ​min, with reusability up to three cycles. These results highlight GFOnps' excellent potential as a photocatalyst for the degradation of multiple dyes. Graphical abstract illustrating the dye degradation process: (a) for MV dye—i) interaction with GFOnps, ii) adsorption onto GFOnps, and iii) photocatalytic degradation under visible light; (b) for MB dye—i) interaction with GFOnps, ii) adsorption onto GFOnps, and iii) photocatalytic degradation under visible light. • Orthorhombic structured GaFeO 3 nanoparticles synthesized via modified sol-gel method. • Photocatalytic degradation of methyl violet reached 97 ​% in 120 ​min using GFOnps. • In PE and MH studies GFO did not saturate even at high electric & magnetic fields. • GFO has shown good room-temperature multiferroic properties.