Ultrafast degradations of organic and inorganic pollutants by sole piezocatalysis efficiently triggered with low air pressure on 1T/3R-MoS2

With rapid increases of population and chemical discharge, treatment and recycling of wastewater have become increasing important. Herein, a new approach for ultrafast degradations of both organic and inorganic pollutants in wastewater by only piezocatalysis, triggered by low air pressure on MoS 2 , is described. Results reveal that the degradation rates of organic methylene blue and inorganic nitrite reach 99.5 % within 75 s and 91.5 % within 1200 s, with the first-order rate constants of 0.072 s −1 and 0.0016 s −1 , respectively. Both degradation rates are faster than those of other methods previously reported. And coexistence of organic and inorganic pollutants causes further enhancement of the piezocatalysis efficiency. Particularly, the piezocatalysis of commercial MoS 2 can be efficiently activated by this air-pressure approach, which is difficult to realize by previous others. The piezocatalytic degradations of other organic pollutants can be similarly induced. Moreover, higher degradation rates are measured in neutral or weakly alkaline environments, and high degradation efficiencies (> 90 %) can be similarly achieved in various water sources. Theoretical simulations support the experimental findings, both indicating a new, environment-friendly, and low-cost approach for efficiently activating the piezocatalysis of MoS 2 by low air pressure, thus leading to wastewater purification and energy conservation.