Exclusive enhancement of catalytic activity in Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 nanostructures: new insights into the design of efficient piezocatalysts and piezo-photocatalysts

Zhicheng Zhao; Liyu Wei; Shun Li; Lifeng Zhu; Yiping Su; Yong Liu; Yibin Bu; Yuanhua Lin; Weishu Liu; Zuotai Zhang

doi:10.1039/C9TA14007G

Exclusive enhancement of catalytic activity in Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ nanostructures: new insights into the design of efficient piezocatalysts and piezo-photocatalysts†

Zhicheng Zhao,

‡^a Liyu Wei,‡^b Shun Li,

*^acd Lifeng Zhu,

^e Yiping Su,^ae Yong Liu,^d Yibin Bu,^a Yuanhua Lin,^f Weishu Liu*^g and Zuotai Zhang*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China
E-mail: lis3@sustech.edu.cn, zhangzt@sustc.edu.cn

^b Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Nanobiomechanics, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China

^c Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China

^d Foshan (Southern China) Institute for New Materials, Foshan 528200, Guangdong, China

^e School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China

^f School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

^g Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China
E-mail: liuws@sustech.edu.cn

Abstract

Piezocatalysis and piezo-photocatalysis have recently emerged as promising strategies to address energy and environmental issues through harvesting mechanical energy. Herein, we report that electrical conductivity, rather than piezoelectric coefficient, is more decisive in determining piezocatalytic and piezopotential enhanced photocatalytic activities. The high electrical conductivity of Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ leads to superior piezo-photocatalytic catalytic activity compared to other reported piezocatalysts for water splitting (H₂ production of 158 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), Cr(VI) reduction (first-order rate constant of 0.045 min⁻¹), and degradation of organic pollutants (first-order rate constant of 0.061 min⁻¹ for RhB) by introducing sunlight and ultrasonic mechanical vibration with a frequency of 20–80 kHz. Furthermore, the mechanical power, vibration frequency, and particle size of the material are important factors to optimize the piezocatalytic and piezo-photocatalytic performance. This work provides a useful guide to design new piezocatalytic or piezo-photocatalytic materials by synergistically considering the electrical conductivity and piezoelectric coefficient.

This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A Lunar New Year collection 2021

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Exclusive enhancement of catalytic activity in Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ nanostructures: new insights into the design of efficient piezocatalysts and piezo-photocatalysts†

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Exclusive enhancement of catalytic activity in Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ nanostructures: new insights into the design of efficient piezocatalysts and piezo-photocatalysts

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A