Open Access
Issue
Published:
08 March 2024
Inducing piezoelectricity in distorted rutile TiO2 for enhanced tetracycline hydrochloride degradation through photopiezocatalysis
)
Download citation
426
Views
90
Downloads
0
Crossref
0
WoS
0
Scopus
0
CSCD
Various material design strategies have been developed to enhance photocatalytic performance of TiO2. However, no report is available on applications of the photopiezocatalysis strategy on TiO2 due to its lack of piezoelectricity. Here we developed a low-temperature molten salt etching process to create rutile TiO2 nanoparticles by etching [MgO6] octahedrons away from MgTiO3 by molten NH4Cl, during which a lattice distortion occurred in TiO2. The lattice distortion broke the structure symmetry of rutile TiO2 and subsequently endowed these rutile TiO2 nanoparticles with an unusual piezoelectric response with the maximum effective piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of ~41.6 pm/V, which had not previously been found in TiO2 photocatalysts. Thus, the photopiezocatalysis strategy was applied for the first time to enhance the photocatalytic performance of these TiO2 nanoparticles. The creation of lattice distortion to induce piezoelectricity could be extended to other photocatalysts that the photopiezocatalysis strategy has not been applied to and may generate novel functionalities for various technical applications.
menu
Inducing piezoelectricity in distorted rutile TiO2 for enhanced tetracycline hydrochloride degradation through photopiezocatalysis
)
Abstract
Various material design strategies have been developed to enhance photocatalytic performance of TiO2. However, no report is available on applications of the photopiezocatalysis strategy on TiO2 due to its lack of piezoelectricity. Here we developed a low-temperature molten salt etching process to create rutile TiO2 nanoparticles by etching [MgO6] octahedrons away from MgTiO3 by molten NH4Cl, during which a lattice distortion occurred in TiO2. The lattice distortion broke the structure symmetry of rutile TiO2 and subsequently endowed these rutile TiO2 nanoparticles with an unusual piezoelectric response with the maximum effective piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of ~41.6 pm/V, which had not previously been found in TiO2 photocatalysts. Thus, the photopiezocatalysis strategy was applied for the first time to enhance the photocatalytic performance of these TiO2 nanoparticles. The creation of lattice distortion to induce piezoelectricity could be extended to other photocatalysts that the photopiezocatalysis strategy has not been applied to and may generate novel functionalities for various technical applications.
References(50)
Fujishima A, Honda K. Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode. Nature 1972, 238: 37–38.
Low J, Yu JG, Jaroniec M, et al. Heterojunction photocatalysts. Adv Mater 2017, 29: 1601694.
Zhao YX, Zhang S, Shi R, et al. Two-dimensional photocatalyst design: A critical review of recent experimental and computational advances. Mater Today 2020, 34: 78–91.
Zhang LY, Zhang JJ, Yu HG, et al. Emerging S-scheme photocatalyst. Adv Mater 2022, 34: 2107668.
Ctibor P, Stengl V, Pala Z. Structural and photocatalytic characteristics of TiO2 coatings produced by various thermal spray techniques. J Adv Ceram 2013, 2: 218–226.
Li ZL, Li ZQ, Zuo CL, et al. Application of nanostructured TiO2 in UV photodetectors: A review. Adv Mater 2022, 34: 2109083.
Lin SH, Chiou CH, Chang CK, et al. Photocatalytic degradation of phenol on different phases of TiO2 particles in aqueous suspensions under UV irradiation. J Environ Manage 2011, 92: 3098–3104.
Asahi R, Morikawa T, Ohwaki T, et al. Visible-light photocatalysis in nitrogen-doped titanium oxides. Science 2001, 293: 269–271.
Si HW, Zou LL, Huang G, et al. An effective strategy for promoting charge separation by integrating heterojunctions and multiple homojunctions in TiO2 nanorods to enhance photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution. J Colloid Interf Sci 2023, 630: 888–900.
Zhang P, Wang T, Chang XX, et al. Effective charge carrier utilization in photocatalytic conversions. Acc Chem Res 2016, 49: 911–921.
Gao WQ, Lu JB, Zhang S, et al. Suppressing photoinduced charge recombination via the Lorentz force in a photocatalytic system. Adv Sci 2019, 6: 1901244.
Sathish M, Viswanathan B, Viswanath RP. Characterization and photocatalytic activity of N-doped TiO2 prepared by thermal decomposition of Ti–melamine complex. Appl Catal B Environ 2007, 74: 307–312.
Gao DD, Liu WJ, Xu Y, et al. Core–shell Ag@Ni cocatalyst on the TiO2 photocatalyst: One-step photoinduced deposition and its improved H2-evolution activity. Appl Catal B Environ 2020, 260: 118190.
Yu X, Jin X, Chen XY, et al. A microorganism bred TiO2/Au/TiO2 heterostructure for whispering gallery mode resonance assisted plasmonic photocatalysis. ACS Nano 2020, 14: 13876–13885.
Xu FY, Meng K, Cheng B, et al. Unique S-scheme heterojunctions in self-assembled TiO2/CsPbBr3 hybrids for CO2 photoreduction. Nat Commun 2020, 11: 4613.
Wang LF, Liu SH, Wang Z, et al. Piezotronic effect enhanced photocatalysis in strained anisotropic ZnO/TiO2 nanoplatelets via thermal stress. ACS Nano 2016, 10: 2636–2643.
Jiao ZB, Chen T, Yu HC, et al. Morphology modulation of SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. J Colloid Interf Sci 2014, 419: 95–101.
He D, Su H, Li XQ, et al. Heterostructure TiO2 polymorphs design and structure adjustment for photocatalysis. Sci Bull 2018, 63: 314–321.
Liu LC, Liu Z, Liu AN, et al. Engineering the TiO2–graphene interface to enhance photocatalytic H2 production. ChemSusChem 2014, 7: 618–626.
Chen JY, Zhang HM, Liu PR, et al. Vapor-phase hydrothermal synthesis of rutile TiO₂ nanostructured film with exposed pyramid-shaped (111) surface and superiorly photoelectrocatalytic performance. J Colloid Interf Sci 2014, 429: 53–61.
Ctibor P, Seshadri RC, Henych J, et al. Photocatalytic and electrochemical properties of single- and multi-layer sub-stoichiometric titanium oxide coatings prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying. J Adv Ceram 2016, 5: 126–136.
He TF, Cao ZZ, Li GR, et al. High efficiently harvesting visible light and vibration energy in (1− x)AgNbO3– xLiTaO3 solid solution around antiferroelectric–ferroelectric phase boundary for dye degradation. J Adv Ceram 2022, 11: 1641–1653.
Huang HW, Tu SC, Zeng C, et al. Macroscopic polarization enhancement promoting photo- and piezoelectric-induced charge separation and molecular oxygen activation. Angew Chem 2017, 129: 12022–12026.
Ma HQ, Yang WY, Gao S, et al. Superior photopiezocatalytic performance by enhancing spontaneous polarization through post-synthesis structure distortion in ultrathin Bi2WO6 nanosheet polar photocatalyst. Chem Eng J 2023, 455: 140471.
Fujishima A, Rao TN, Tryk DA. Titanium dioxide photocatalysis. J Photochem Photobiol C Photochem Rev 2000, 1: 1–21.
Lukačević I, Gupta SK, Jha PK, et al. Lattice dynamics and Raman spectrum of rutile TiO2: The role of soft phonon modes in pressure induced phase transition. Mater Chem Phys 2012, 137: 282–289.
Carrillo SC, Navarrete TB, Felix-Navarro RM, et al. Study of the structure and lattice distortion on the sensing properties of hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanoarchitectures. Funct Mater Lett 2018, 11: 1850073.
Jeanne-Rose V, Poumellec B. Coordination octahedron distortion effect on X-ray absorption fine structures of titanium in the rutile titanium dioxide. J Phys Condens Matter 1999, 11: 1123–1137.
Lv HP, Liao WQ, You YM, et al. Inch-size molecular ferroelectric crystal with a large electromechanical coupling factor on par with barium titanate. J Am Chem Soc 2022, 144: 22325–22331.
Saadati F, Keramati N, Ghazi MM. Influence of parameters on the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline in wastewater: A review. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 2016, 46: 757–782.
Sharon Samyuktha V, Guru Sampath Kumar A, Subba Rao T, et al. Synthesis, structural and dielectric properties of magnesium calcium titanate (1− x)MgTiO3− xCaTiO3 ( x = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3). Mater Today Proc 2016, 3: 1768–1771.
Cargnello M, Gordon TR, Murray CB. Solution-phase synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and nanocrystals. Chem Rev 2014, 114: 9319–9345.
Kominami H, Kohno M, Kera Y. Synthesis of brookite-type titanium oxide nano-crystals in organic media. J Mater Chem 2000, 10: 1151–1156.
Huang HS, Song Y, Li NJ, et al. One-step in situ preparation of N-doped TiO2@C derived from Ti3C2 MXene for enhanced visible-light driven photodegradation. Appl Catal B Environ 2019, 251: 154–161.
Wan L, Li JF, Feng JY, et al. Improved optical response and photocatalysis for N-doped titanium oxide (TiO2) films prepared by oxidation of TiN. Appl Surf Sci 2007, 253: 4764–4767.
Bhirud AP, Sathaye SD, Waichal RP, et al. In-situ preparation of N–TiO2/graphene nanocomposite and its enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production by H2S splitting under solar light. Nanoscale 2015, 7: 5023–5034.
Gao S, Guan HT, Wang HY, et al. Creation of Sn x Nb1− x O2 solid solution through heavy Nb-doping in SnO2 to boost its photocatalytic CO2 reduction to C2+ products under simulated solar illumination. J Adv Ceram 2022, 11: 1404–1416.
Bian L, Song MX, Zhou TL, et al. Band gap calculation and photo catalytic activity of rare earths doped rutile TiO2. J Rare Earths 2009, 27: 461–468.
Morikawa T, Asahi R, Ohwaki T, et al. Band-gap narrowing of titanium dioxide by nitrogen doping. Jpn J Appl Phys 2001, 40: L561.
Ramirez R, Arellano C, Varia J, et al. Visible light-induced photocatalytic elimination of organic pollutants by TiO2: A review. Curr Org Chem 2015, 19: 540–555.
Fang WQ, Wang XL, Zhang HM, et al. Manipulating solar absorption and electron transport properties of rutile TiO2 photocatalysts via highly n-type F-doping. J Mater Chem A 2014, 2: 3513–3520.
Yang WY, Chen Y, Gao S, et al. Post-illumination activity of Bi2WO6 in the dark from the photocatalytic “memory” effect. J Adv Ceram 2021, 10: 355–367.
You HL, Wu Z, Jia YM, et al. High-efficiency and mechano-/photo-bi-catalysis of piezoelectric-ZnO@photoelectric-TiO2 core–shell nanofibers for dye decomposition. Chemosphere 2017, 183: 528–535.
Xue XY, Zang WL, Deng P, et al. Piezo-potential enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic dye using ZnO nanowires. Nano Energy 2015, 13: 414–422.
Zhao MH, Wang ZL, Mao SX. Piezoelectric characterization of individual zinc oxide nanobelt probed by piezoresponse force microscope. Nano Lett 2004, 4: 587–590.
Zhang XD, Chen JF, Jiang ST, et al. Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of gaseous toluene and liquidus tetracycline by anatase/rutile titanium dioxide with heterophase junction derived from materials of Institut Lavoisier-125(Ti): Degradation pathway and mechanism studies. J Colloid Interf Sci 2021, 588: 122–137.
Yang YJ, Bian ZY. Oxygen doping through oxidation causes the main active substance in g-C3N4 photocatalysis to change from holes to singlet oxygen. Sci Total Environ 2021, 753: 141908.
Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52272125 and 51902271), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 2682021CX116, 2682020CX07, and 2682020CX08), and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Grant Nos. 2020YJ0259, 2020YJ0072, and 2021YFH0163). We would like to thank Analysis and Testing Center of Southwest Jiaotong University for the assistance on material characterization.
Rights and permissions
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
FEEDBACK 
TOP