Dual piezoelectric effect BaTiO3/PbTiO3 heterojunction for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Recombination of photoinduced electrons and holes inhibits the photocatalytic efficiency. To boost the separation of carriers, constructing heterojunction and built-in piezoelectric field are necessary. Herein, a novel BaTiO 3 /PbTiO 3 (BTO/PTO) S-scheme heterojunction with dual piezoelectric effect was proposed for the first time. The combination of PTO nanofibers and BTO nanoparticles creates more contact areas to enlarge the deformation and enhance the piezoelectric effect. The synergism between heterojunction and piezoelectric field greatly helps the separation of photoinduced carriers and enhances the catalytic performance. Benefited from the carrier separation, the 10%BTO/PTO composite exhibits a doubled efficiency than PTO. Furthermore, its photo-piezoelectric catalytic efficiency is 4.3 times that of photocatalysis and 2.8 times that of piezoelectric catalysis, proving the effectiveness of the synergism of piezoelectric effect and photocatalysis. This design provides a feasible avenue to modulate the behavior of carriers for efficient photocatalysis.