Dye degradation and bacterial disinfection using multicatalytic BaZr0.02Ti0.98O3 ceramics

The piezocatalytic, photocatalytic, and piezo-photocatalytic properties of BaZr0.02Ti0.98O3 (BZT) were examined for degradation of organic dyes and killing of bacteria present in the wastewater. Poled and unpoled powder samples were investigated using rhodamine-B (RB), methyl orange (MO) dyes, and gram-negative Escherichia coli in simulated water. The poled BZT sample demonstrated significant degradation of RB and MO dyes as compared to the unpoled BZT sample during piezocatalytic, photocatalytic, and piezo-photocatalytic experiments. Moreover, ultrasonication-induced piezocatalysis was found to be more effective than stirring in dye degradation using the poled BZT sample. Also, the piezo-photocatalysis through poled BZT sample (using ultrasonication and ultraviolet (UV) light) was found to be more effective in dye degradation than that of only piezocatalysis and only photocatalysis. During antibacterial testing, the poled BZT sample showed nearly 90% and 100% bacterial killing under UV light and ultrasonication, respectively,, whereas the unpoled BZT sample showed only similar to 5% and similar to 35% bacterial killing. The significant enhancement in dye degradation and bacterial killing using the poled sample explicitly indicated the role of internal electric field in multicatalytic activities.