Boosting piezocatalytic activity for hydrogen bonding self-assembled Ti3C2/BaTiO3 heterojunction via accumulated piezoelectric effect

Constructing heterojunctions has been proved to effectively improve the carrier transfer capability for enhanced catalytic activity. Herein, Ti 3 C 2 /BaTiO 3 heterojunctions were fabricated through self-assembly driven by hydrogen bonding between piezoelectric barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ) stabilized by oleic acid molecules and titanium carbide (Ti 3 C 2 ) with surficial functional groups under continuous ultrasonic vibration. Owing to the formation of heterojunction, the separation of free charges can be promoted by the conductive Ti 3 C 2 . Additionally, the recombination of electrons and holes pairs in BaTiO 3 can be hindered by built-in piezoelectric field. Hence, the piezocatalytic activity of Ti 3 C 2 /BaTiO 3 was significantly enhanced by the accumulated piezoelectric effect, maintaining stability during the piezocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A and achieving rate constants that were 22.2 and 3.2 times higher than those of Ti 3 C 2 and BaTiO 3 , respectively. This work thus presents a novel strategy for designing high-activity heterojunction piezocatalysts through hydrogen bonding self-assembly.