The process of contact electrification occurs when two materials with dissimilar work functions are in contact and charged. Contact-electro-catalysis may occur when electron exchange at the liquid-solid interface initiates a redox reaction. This type of catalysis falls under the mechanically-driven tribocatalysis and has been demonstrated to be able to degrade dye under high-frequency ultrasonic excitation. In this work, a high RhB dye decomposition ratio of 91.5% is achieved by harnessing the ordinary low-frequency solid-liquid friction energy through the design and use of the recyclable fabric with PTFE coating as a solid friction source to agitate the dye solution. In the absence of PTFE coating, the RhB dye decomposition ratio is about 14.8% under the same friction conditions. The enhanced contact-electro-catalysis may be attributed to the high electronegativity of PTFE coating. According to the quenching experiments with active species, it is found that hydroxyl radical (·OH) and superoxide radical (·O2-) are the main active species induced by low-frequency solid-liquid friction. The fabric with PTFE coating after being dried and reused for 5 cycles still possesses 87.9% RhB dye decomposition ratio. With these advantages of high decomposition ratio of organic pollution, low cost, good recyclability, and environmental friendliness, the developed low-frequency contact-electro-catalysis in this work, is potential for organic wastewater treatment application through utilizing waste solid materials to harvest the mechanical friction energy between solid waste fabrics and ordinary waterflow in future.
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