Plasma treatment enhanced piezo-photocatalytic performance of Bi2WO6 for efficient degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride

Abstract

Photocatalysis is limited by the high recombination rate of photogenerated e- and h+, but the piezoelectric effect can enhance the separation efficiency of charge carriers, so that the combining piezoelectric catalysis with photocatalysis is a highly promising approach for improving catalytic performance. In this study, aim to enhance piezo-photocatalytic performance, plasma treatment was applied to modify the surface of Bi2WO6 to form oxygen vacancies. After plasma treatment, Bi2WO6 exhibited a larger specific surface area, thinner thickness, narrower band gap, etc. These improvements have been confirmed to enhance the piezoelectric response of Bi2WO6, facilitate band bending and further improve the absorption of visible light, accelerate the separation of charge carriers, thus enhanced the piezo-photocatalytic activity. Consequently, utilization of plasma treatment had improved greatly the piezo-photocatalytic performance of Bi2WO6 for the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride. Impressively, plasma treatment promoted the generation of 1O2 during the piezo-photocatalytic reaction, emphasizing the advantages of utilizing plasma treatment for improving the performance of piezo-photocatalysts. This work highlights the use of plasma treatment to increase active sites and induce vacancy defects on the surface of catalysts, which exhibit excellent piezo-photocatalytic degradation performance and show great potential in the field of environmental remediation.