Enhanced triboelectric degradation of organics by tuning the synergy between ferroelectric polarization and illumination

It is urgently necessary to develop efficient and environmentally friendly catalysts to solve pollution problems faced by humankind. In this work, ferroelectric Ba2-xSr3+xLaNb7Ti3O30 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) (BSLNT) tungsten bronze ceramics were prepared using a high-temperature solid-phase method and applied as tribocatalysts for degradation of organics. The built-in electric field in ferroelectric BSLNT was enhanced by modulating the ferroelectric polarization and by electrical poling. The degradation results show that better ferroelectric properties of the tribocatalysts led to better the catalytic capability with 92% RhB degradation after 2 h. The further enhanced polarization of the catalyst by electrical poling can improve the degradation efficiency of RhB to 96.8% in 2 h. Under the synergistic effect of illumination and friction, the degradation efficiency of RhB after 30 min reached 95.2%. Therefore, a highly efficient ferroelectric tribocatalyst with an enhanced built-in electric field for degradation of dye wastewater was demonstrated, expanding the application of ferroelectric materials in the catalysis field.