Excellent piezo-photocatalytic performance of plasmonic Bi/Bi4Ti3O12 heterojunction synthesized by in-situ reduction

Efficient catalytic conversion can be achieved by electro-mechanical coupling and solar energy-induced photogenerated carriers. In this work, an advanced semimetal Bi decorated Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ (Bi/BTO) heterojunction catalyst was constructed through in-situ reduction without organic solvent. The piezo-photocatalytic removal toward MB of Bi/BTO catalyst reaches 87.2% within 70 min, and the rate constant is 2.23 and 1.80 times higher than that of piezocatalysis and photocatalysis, respectively. The enhanced performance is attributed to not only surface plasmon resonance effect of Bi nanoparticles that enhances light absorption and accelerates charge separation, but also the piezoelectric effect of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ which strengthens internal electric fields. Moreover, the metal titanium template can be recycled to synthesize Bi/BTO catalyst, thus favouring commercial-scale application. This work demonstrates an effective strategy to design efficient catalyst to utilize natural solar and mechanical energy.