A BaTiO3/WS2 composite for piezo-photocatalytic persulfate activation and ofloxacin degradation

Arezou Fazli; Fatemeh Zakeri; Alireza Khataee; Yasin Orooji

doi:10.1038/s42004-022-00707-2

A BaTiO₃/WS₂ composite for piezo-photocatalytic persulfate activation and ofloxacin degradation

Commun Chem. 2022 Aug 10;5(1):95. doi: 10.1038/s42004-022-00707-2.

Authors

Arezou Fazli^#^{1

2}, Fatemeh Zakeri^#^{2

3}, Alireza Khataee^{4

5}, Yasin Orooji^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, SIGMA Clermont, Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, F-63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
² Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471, Tabriz, Iran.
³ Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No. 159, Longpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Research Laboratory of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Processes, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471, Tabriz, Iran. a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir.
⁵ Department of Environmental Engineering, Gebze Technical University, 41400, Gebze, Turkey. a_khataee@tabrizu.ac.ir.
⁶ Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, No. 159, Longpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. orooji@zjnu.edu.cn.
⁷ College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, People's Republic of China. orooji@zjnu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Piezoelectric fields can decrease the recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes in semiconductors and therewith increase their photocatalytic activities. Here, a BaTiO₃/WS₂ composite is synthesized and characterized, which combines piezoelectric BaTiO₃ nanofibers and WS₂ nanosheets. The piezo-photocatalytic effect of the composite on the persulfate activation is studied by monitoring Ofloxacin (OFL) degradation efficiency. Under mechanical forces, LED lamp irradiation, and the addition of 10 mM persulfate, the OFL degradation efficiency reaches ~90% within 75 min, which is higher than efficiencies obtained for individual BaTiO₃, WS₂, or TiO₃, widely used photocatalysts in the field of water treatment. The boosted degradation efficiency can be ascribed to the promotion of charge carrier separation, resulting from the synergetic effect of the heterostructure and the piezoelectric field induced by the vibration. Moreover, the prepared composite displays good stability over five successive cycles of the degradation process. GC-MS analysis is used to survey the degradation pathway of OFL during the degradation process. Our results offer insight into strategies for preparing highly effective piezo-photocatalysts in the field of water purification.