Construction of piezoelectric photocatalyst Au/BiVO₄ for efficient degradation of tetracycline and studied at single-particle level

Abstract

Piezopotential-assisted catalysis has been proven to be a low-cost and high-efficiency environmental purification process. Herein, Au/bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) piezoelectric photocatalysts are prepared by modifying highly dispersed Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) on piezoelectric BiVO₄ microcrystal by a deposition-precipitation approach. Under visible light irradiation and assisted ultrasound excitation, the removal rate of tetracycline was 95% within 60 min, demonstrating the optimum photocatalytic performance over 3Au/BiVO₄. The significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance is due to the synergistic coupling of plasmonic and piezotronic effect based on facet engineering. Single-particle spectroscopy technology can provide photoluminescence (PL) lifetime and PL spectra information in the micro-/nano regions, thereby exploring the charge transfer behavior of heterostructures. Single-particle PL images revealed a significant attenuation of PL emission and shortened PL lifetime of 3Au/BiVO₄, compared with BiVO₄, indicating that high-density dispersed AuNPs promote charge transfer. In situ monitoring of individual BiVO₄ and 3Au/BiVO₄ particles before and after polarization treatment confirms that the piezoelectric field of the BiVO₄ decahedron further promotes separation of photogenerated carriers induced by plasmonic effect. Driven by the piezoelectric potential induced by ultrasonic vibration near the heterostructures, high-energy hot electrons excited on plasmonic AuNPs can be effectively extracted to BiVO₄. This work provides new choices for designing high-performance pollutant treatment catalysts.

Keywords

Piezo-/photocatalytic / surface plasmon resonance / facet engineering / organic pollutant degradation / single-particle study

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