Abstract
Strain-induced internal electric fields present a significant path to boosting the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes. In addition, piezo-induced positive/negative pairs could be released smoothly, taking advantage of the excellent electroconductibility of some conductors. Herein, the hybrid piezo-photocatalysis is constructed by combining debut piezoelectric nanosheets (Bi4O5I2) and typical conductor multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT). The photocatalytic degradation efficiency that the hybrid CNT/Bi4O5I2 exhibits was remarkably increased by more than 2.3 times under ultrasonic vibration, due to the piezo-generated internal electric field. In addition, the transient photocurrent spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance measurement reveal that the CNT coating on Bi4O5I2 enhances the piezo-induced positive/negative migration. Therefore, the piezocatalytic activity of CNT/Bi4O5I2 could be improved by three times, compared with pure Bi4O5I2 nanosheets. Our results may offer promising approaches to sketching efficient piezo-photocatalysis for the full utilization of solar energy or mechanical vibration.
Highlights
Hybrid carbon nanotubes (CNT)/Bi4 O5 I2, as a new piezo-photocatalyst, shows dramatically efficient degradation activity under the ultrasonic wave and simulated solar light, owing to the strain-induced internal electric field via the piezoelectric effect, which can boost the separation of photoinduced electron/hole pairs
The typical diffraction peaks of CNT were weak in the CNT/Bi4 O5 I2 composites (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%), which can be attributed to the low content and high dispersion of CNT in the composites [34]
I2 mechanism, the charge transfer processes in Bi4O5I2 and CNT/Bi4O5I2 were explored by were explored by transient photocurrent density (PC)
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The piezo-induced electric field causes the edge of the conduction band of BiFeO3 to be higher than the H+ /H2 potential, to efficiently generate H2 under ultrasonic vibration [18]. The conversion efficiency of mechanical strain to an electric charge has often been limited by the low piezoelectric coefficient, poor electroconductibility, and unsatisfactory morphology [19,20,21,22]. The catalytic activities of photocatalytic semiconductors can be efficiently tuned by piezo-induced internal electric fields, namely, the piezo-photocatalyst [30,31]. Hybrid CNT/Bi4 O5 I2 , as a new piezo-photocatalyst, shows dramatically efficient degradation activity under the ultrasonic wave and simulated solar light, owing to the strain-induced internal electric field via the piezoelectric effect, which can boost the separation of photoinduced electron/hole pairs
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