{110} Surface-Exposed Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 Ferroelectric Nanosheet Arrays on Porous Ceramics as Efficient and Recyclable Piezo-Photocatalysts

Abstract

Bismuth-layered ferroelectric nanomaterials exhibit great potential for piezo-photocatalysis. However, a major challenge lies in the difficulty of recovering the catalytic powders, raising concerns regarding secondary pollution of water. In this work, a novel hierarchical porous ferroelectric ceramic containing {110} surface-exposed Bi_3.15Nd_0.85Ti₃O₁₂ (BIT-Nd) nanosheet arrays is grown on a porous ceramic matrix for efficient and recyclable piezo-photocatalysis. By controlling the BIT-Nd loading level of the nanosheets, the piezo-photocatalytic degradation efficiency of a Rhodamine B(RhB) (C₀ = 10 mg L⁻¹) solution reached an optimum value of 97.1% in 100 min with a first-order kinetic rate constant, k, of up to 0.0321 min⁻¹ in Bi_3.15Nd_0.85Ti₃O₁₂-20 (BITNd-20) with a mass ratio of hydrothermal products to ceramics of 20%. In the presence of BITNd-20, a surprising H₂ yield rate of 130 µmol·h⁻¹ is achieved without using any cocatalyst or scavenger. Specially, the beneficial role of snowflake structures on piezoelectric potential amplification and introducing nanosheets with exposed {110} surfaces on hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, piezoelectric potential output, and catalytic performance of porous ceramics has been revealed. This unique design strategy provides a new approach to enhance the piezo-photocatalytic activity by addressing environmental issues and enhancing catalytic performance to yield cleaner energy.