Investigation of Bismuth Ferrite based Piezoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting and Catalysis

Among the various kinds of energy resources, mechanical energy is ubiquitous from a great variety of sources, including human activities, vibrations, vehicle operation, etc. In order to make use of mechanical energy in the ambient environment, piezoelectric materials, which can directly convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by utilizing the piezoelectric effect, have been utilized to fabricate mechanical energy harvesters for practical application. In addition, the spontaneous polarization inside the piezoelectric materials is favorable for the degradation of organic pollutants and hydrogen production, which makes the piezoelectric material promising for catalytic reactions. Up to now, different kinds of piezoelectric materials, such as ZnO and perovskite ferroelectric materials have been utilized to transform mechanical energy into electricity in various ways. Compared with ZnO, perovskite ferroelectric materials with better piezoelectric properties are more suitable for harvesting mechanical energy. Among the various kinds of perovskite piezoelectric materials, BiFeO3-based solid solutions, BiLaFeO3-PbTiO3, and BiFeO3-BaTiO3 are attracting increasingly attention due to their comprehensively excellent piezoelectric properties.