Selective Enhancement of Photo‐Piezocatalytic Performance in BaTiO₃ Via heterovalent Ion Doping

Abstract

This study proposes a strategy based on heterovalent ion doping that gives rise to a synergistic piezo-phototronic effect with significantly improved catalytic activity and leads to selective catalytic enhancement for specific pollutants. Owing to the enhanced light absorption, hydrogen evolution rates are as high as 3704 and 3178 µmolg −1 h −1 in 0.01Li-doped BaTiO 3 and 0.02La-doped BaTiO 3 nanosheets, respectively, under simultaneous irradiation by ultrasound and light, a factor of 4.6 and 3.9 times higher than for pure BaTiO 3 . The performance also far exceeds that of single piezocatalysis, photocatalysis, or the sum of the two for Li/La-doped BaTiO 3 nanosheets due to the effects of the piezoelectric field in promoting photo-induced separation of electron-hole pairs. Further, by carefully selecting donor or acceptor doping, a significant enhancement in catalyst to specific pollutants is obtained by controlling the band structure. Compared to pure BaTiO 3 , 0.01Li-doped BaTiO 3 possesses higher catalytic activity for anionic dyes such as Methyl blue and Malachite Green, reaching 0.067 and 1.379 min −1 , respectively, while 0.02La-doped BaTiO 3 exhibits better catalytic performance for cationic dyes such as Rhodamine B and Methyl Orange, with degradation rates up to 0.274 and 0.029 min −1 , respectively. This study offers a path to the design of efficient piezocatalysts for specific applications.

Field‐assisted electrocatalysts spark sulfur redox kinetics: From fundamentals to applications

“…The correlation established between the reaction barrier and energy band structure for reaction intermediates is substantial yet scarcely executed. [ 121–123 ] Enlightened by the separation of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs in photocatalysis, dynamically modifying the energy band structure of electrocatalysts can partake of the optimal manipulation of LiPSs reduction energy barrier, which was preliminarily verified by Yu and co‐workers. [ 26 ] In addition, harnessing the inherent photothermal effects to achieve internal heating paves another way to accelerate LiPSs conversion.…”

Tribocatalysis mechanisms: electron transfer and transition

“…6 Tribocatalysis is an emerging catalytic technology, which can achieve chemical reactions by harvesting tiny mechanical energy, such as water ow and vibration, in the environment to realize self-powered purication. Unlike piezocatalysis that requires piezoelectric materials with special asymmetric crystals structures, [7][8][9][10] a wider variety of materials can be used as tribocatalysts, including regular polymers such as polytetrauoroethylene (PTFE) 11 and uorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), 12 semiconductor catalysts, 13 as well as metals. 14 For example, through tribocatalysis, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods with a PTFE magnetic bar degraded 99% rhodamine B under a magnetic stirring of 1000 rpm in 60 h. 13 centi-sized iron that persistently degraded 98% Cr 6+ in the testing time (36 h).…”

Self-Powered Bipolar Photodetector Based on a Ce-BaTiO3 PTCR Semiconductor for Logic Gates

“…21−25 In addition to the wide bandgap, the conventional ABO 3 ferroelectrics intrinsically exhibit low conductivity as well as low carrier mobility, which also limit the overall photocurrent efficiency. 26 The heterovalent ion doping may sacrifice the ferroelectricity to improve the conductivity and charge mobility, 27 and an improved photocurrent could be anticipated in ferroelectric semiconductors by relying on the enhanced interfacial Schottky junction. BaTiO 3 , as a classical ferroelectric material, possesses high resistivity varying from 10 9 to 10 12 Ω cm at room temperature as an electrical insulator.…”