High efficiently harvesting visible light and vibration energy in (1−x)AgNbO3–xLiTaO3 solid solution around antiferroelectric–ferroelectric phase boundary for dye degradation

Abstract

Simultaneously employing light and vibration energy by piezoelectric material to realize environmental remediation is an advanced oxidation method. Silver niobate (AgNbO3) is a visible light driven photocatalyst for the removal of organic pollutants. However, the high recombination rate of photo-generated electrons and holes suppresses its photocatalytic activity. Piezoelectric potential excited by vibration can facilitate the separation of light induced charges. Unfortunately, AgNbO3 is an antiferroelectric. In this work, distinct photo-/vibration-bi-catalysis has been achieved in ferroelectric (1−x)AgNbO3–xLiTaO3 solid solution. The results show that ~96% Rhodamine B (RhB) can be decomposed under the bi-excitation of ultrasound and visible light within 120 min with 0.95AgNbO3–0.05LiTaO3 catalyst. The synergy effect from efficient visible light excitation and enhanced separation of the photo-induced charges from the electric field by the mechanical strain results in the distinct decomposition performance of catalysts.