Comparative Photocatalytic Investigations of GdAlO ₃ :Tb ³⁺ , Dy ³⁺ Nanoparticles for the Degradation of Fast Blue and Acid Orange Red Dyes

The structural and photocatalytic characteristics of GdAlO 3 :RE 3+ (RE=Tb (3[Formula: see text]mol.%), Dy (3[Formula: see text]mol.%)) nanoparticles are investigated in this study. The energy band gap of GdAlO 3 :RE 3+ (RE=Tb (3[Formula: see text]mol.%), Dy (3[Formula: see text]mol.%)) nanoparticles, as determined from diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), is estimated to be 5.37[Formula: see text]eV. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) Surface area and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) differential thermal analysis (DTA) analysis have been carried out for GdAlO 3 :RE 3+ (RE=Tb (3[Formula: see text]mol.%), Dy (3[Formula: see text]mol.%)) nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were employed as photocatalysts for the degradation of Fast Blue (FB) and Acid Orange Red (AOR) dyes. The absorbance spectra of both dyes were recorded under UV and sunlight radiation, and the percentage degradation for each dye was calculated. The results indicate that UV light-driven degradation outperformed degradation under sunlight. The GdAlO 3 :Tb 3+ photocatalyst, with a broadband gap of 5.37[Formula: see text]eV, achieved a remarkable 99.25% degradation of FB dyes under UV radiation, while sunlight irradiation exhibited 52.28% degradation. The study further compared the photocatalytic activity of GdAlO 3 :RE 3+ photocatalyst for the degradation of FB and AOR dyes under UV and sunlight conditions.