Harnessing ultrasound in photocatalysis: Synthesis and piezo-enhanced effect: A review

Chunyan Li; Xiaozhuo Wang; Jianhao Wu; Jingyang Gao; Rixu Zhao; Sasa Xia; Hua Yang; Zhi Chen; Lan Li; Wen Wang

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106584

Harnessing ultrasound in photocatalysis: Synthesis and piezo-enhanced effect: A review

Ultrason Sonochem. 2023 Oct:99:106584. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106584. Epub 2023 Sep 4.

Authors

Chunyan Li¹, Xiaozhuo Wang¹, Jianhao Wu¹, Jingyang Gao¹, Rixu Zhao², Sasa Xia¹, Hua Yang³, Zhi Chen⁴, Lan Li⁵, Wen Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials and Chemistry, China Jiliang University, 258 Xueyuan Street, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou 310018, China.
² China Construction Ready Mixed Concrete Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430070, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, MOA Laboratory of Quality & Safety Risk Assessment for Agro-products (Hangzhou), Institute of Agro-product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
⁴ College of Materials and Chemistry, China Jiliang University, 258 Xueyuan Street, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou 310018, China. Electronic address: zchen@cjlu.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Materials and Chemistry, China Jiliang University, 258 Xueyuan Street, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou 310018, China. Electronic address: lanli@cjlu.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, MOA Laboratory of Quality & Safety Risk Assessment for Agro-products (Hangzhou), Institute of Agro-product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China. Electronic address: wangwen@zaas.ac.cn.

Abstract

The photocatalytic technique has drawn far-ranging interests in addressing the current issues; however, its property suffers from the limited visible light response and rapid recombination of carriers. To address these issues, two specific approaches have been proposed to enhance the photocatalytic activity: (1) ultrasound-assisted synthesis has been utilized to prepare photocatalysts, resulting in refined grain size, increased specific surface area, and reduced photogenerated carrier recombination; (2) sonophotocatalysis and piezoelectric enhanced photocatalysis have been developed to accelerate the reaction, which utilizes the synergism between ultrasound and light. On one side, sonophotocatalysis generates cavitation bubbles which induce more reactive radicals for redox reactions. On the other side, ultrasound induces deformation of the piezoelectric material structure, which changes the internal piezoelectric potential and improves the photocatalytic performance. Currently, intensive efforts have been devoted to related research and great progress has been reached with applications in pollutant degradation, new energy production, and other fields. This work starts by elucidating the fundamental concept of ultrasound-assisted photocatalyst synthesis and photocatalysis. Then, the synergistic behavior between ultrasonic and light in ultrasonic-assisted photocatalysis has been thoroughly discussed, including pollutant degradation, water splitting, and bacterial sterilization. Finally, the challenge and outlook are investigated and proposed.

Keywords: Enhanced photocatalytic performance; Photocatalyst preparation; Piezoelectric enhancement; Sonophotocatalysis; Synergism of ultrasound and light irradiation.