Pyro-photo-electric catalysis in Bi2WO6 nanostructures for efficient degradation of dyes under thermal-assisted visible light irradiation

The severe recombination of photo-generated carriers is a key issue that restricts the development of photo-electric catalysis technology. Herein, it is proposed for the first time to utilize the polarization field of Bi2WO6 pyroelectric materials to adjust the photo-electric catalysis performance to achieve the degradation of dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB). Under 20-45 degrees C alternating hot and cold, light illumination and external bias, the catalytic rate of Bi2WO6 for MB is 3.06 x 10(-2) min(-1) which respectively increases by 2.14 and 13.85 times compared with photo-electric catalysis (9.731 x10(-3) min(-1)) and pyroelectric catalysis (2.06 x10(-3) min(-1)), and the catalytic rate of Bi2WO6 for RhB is 1.96 x 10(-2) min(-1) which respectively increases by 1.04 and 11.35 times compared with photo-electric catalysis (9.60 x10(-3) min(-1)) and pyro-electric catalysis (1.59 x10(-3) min(-1)). The improvement in catalysis efficiency is originated from the increased carrier concentration caused by the combination of pyro-generated carriers and photo-generated carriers, and the polarized built-in electric field. This study proves that Bi2WO6 pyroelectric materials can be used for photo-electric catalysis degradation of pollutants by utilization of a variety of clean energy including solar energy, thermal energy and electrical energy simultaneously, which provides a critical idea for the design of new environmentally friendly electrodes for catalytic degradation. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study introduces the utilization of the polarization field of Bi2WO6 pyroelectric materials to enhance the photo-electric catalysis performance for dye degradation. The catalytic efficiency significantly increases under specific conditions, showing the potential of using clean energy sources for pollutant degradation and providing new ideas for environmentally friendly electrodes design.