Coupling of piezocatalysis and photocatalysis for efficient degradation of methylene blue by Bi0.9Gd0.07La0.03FeO3 nanotubes

Abstract Photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants is great significance for wastewater remediation but still hindered by the poor catalytic efficiency catalysts. Herein, we report a strategy to simultaneously introduce piezocatalysis and enhance intrinsic photocatalysis in single catalyst, which improved performance methylene blue (MB) significantly. Specifically, piezoelectric BiFeO 3 (BFO) nanotube doped with different contents Gd La (Bi 0.9 (Gd x 1− ) 0.1 FeO were produced electrospinning. The doping led higher concentration surface oxygen vacancy (OV) Bi 0.07 0.03 , effectively increased field due deformation BFO, suppressed recombination photon-generated electron-hole pairs. showed excellent under simultaneous light irradiation ultrasonic excitation, giving an extraordinary 95% MB within 90 min. These findings suggest that effect combined defect engineering can nanotube. This could potentially be extended other systems high-performance pollutant treatment.