Dual-function Gd–doped BiPO₄ rods enabling durable UV photocatalysis and antifungal activity
摘要
Textile effluents contain persistent dyes that resist conventional treatment, while opportunistic fungal pathogens such as Candida tropicalis are increasingly associated with difficult-to-treat infections. Here, monoclinic BiPO₄ and 10 mol% Gd–doped BiPO₄ were synthesized by chemical precipitation and linked to UV-driven methylene blue (MB) degradation and antifungal performance. XRD confirmed phase-pure monoclinic BiPO₄, with dopant-induced crystallite refinement (≈ 37 → 34.04 nm) and no detectable secondary phases. UV–Vis/Tauc’s analysis showed a red-shifted absorption edge and band-gap narrowing from 3.93 eV (BiPO₄) to 3.78 eV (Gd–doped BiPO₄). Under UV irradiation (MB 10 mg L⁻¹; catalyst 25 mg; 500 mL; 60 min dark equilibration), Gd–doped BiPO₄ accelerated MB depletion to Ct/C0 ≈ 0.06–0.07 after 70 min (≈ 93–94% removal), compared with Ct/C0 ≈ 0.22 for BiPO₄ (≈ 78% removal), following pseudo-first-order kinetics (k = 0.0381 vs. 0.0212 min⁻¹). The catalyst retained high activity over six cycles (95% → 88%) with unchanged XRD/FESEM features. In agar well diffusion, Gd–doped BiPO₄ exhibited dose-dependent antifungal inhibition against C. tropicalis with a maximum ZOI of ~ 13 mm at 200 µg well⁻¹. Overall, Gd incorporation improves charge utilization and enables a stable dual-function photocatalytic/antifungal oxide platform.