Synergistic Piezo-Photocatalysis of BiOCl/NaNbO3 Heterojunction Piezoelectric Composite for High-Efficient Organic Pollutant Degradation

Piezo-photocatalytic technique is a new-emerging strategy to alleviate photoinduced charge recombination and thus enhance catalytic performance. The heterojunction construction engineering is a powerful approach to improve photocatalytic performance. Herein, the BiOCl/NaNbO3 with different molar ratios piezoelectric composites were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal methods. The piezo/photodegradation rate (k value) of Rhodamine B (RhB) for BiOCl/NaNbO3 (BN-3, 0.0192 min(-1)) is 2.2 and 5.2 times higher than that of BiOCl (0.0089 min(-1)) and NaNbO3 (0.0037 min(-1)), respectively. The enhanced performance of BN-3 composite can be attributed to the heterojunction construction between BiOCl and NaNbO3. In addition, the piezo/photodecomposition ratio of RhB for BN-3 (87.4%) is 8.8 and 2.2 times higher than that of piezocatalysis (9.9%) and photocatalysis (40.4%), respectively. We further investigated the mechanism of piezocatalysis, photocatalysis, and their synergy effect of BN-3 composite. This study favors an in-depth understanding of piezo-photocatalysis, providing a new strategy to improve the environmental pollutant remediation efficiency of piezoelectric composites.

Automated summary

In this study, BiOCl/NaNbO3 piezoelectric composites with different molar ratios were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal methods. The performance of BiOCl/NaNbO3 composite, especially BN-3, was significantly enhanced compared to pure BiOCl and NaNbO3, showing higher degradation rates for Rhodamine B (RhB). The study further investigated and explained the mechanism of piezocatalysis, photocatalysis, and their synergy effect in BN-3 composite. This research provides valuable insights into the piezo-photocatalytic technique and offers a new strategy for improving the efficiency of piezoelectric composites in environmental pollutant remediation.