Effective enhancement of piezocatalytic activity of BaTiO3 nanowires under ultrasonic vibration

Piezocatalysis is a catalytic effect driven by the stress-induced electricity of piezoelectric crystallites. In this study, piezoelectric BaTiO3 nanowires and nanoparticles were synthesized and their piezocatalytic activity was investigated. The BaTiO3 nanowires exhibit effectively enhanced piezocatalytic activity under ultrasonic vibration compared with the BaTiO3 nanoparticles. On the basis of the piezoelectric potential analysis by finite element method simulation for BaTiO3 nanowires and nanoparticles under ultrasonic vibration, the enhanced piezocatalytic activity of the BaTiO3 nanowires can be attributed to the larger piezoelectric potential along the polar axis. In addition, we also demonstrate that the intrinsic charge carriers (not piezoelectric charges) in piezoelectric crystallites play the role of charge transfer in the catalysis process through regulating the concentration of charge carriers. Our work provides further understanding of piezocatalysis of piezoelectric nanomaterials as well as insights on the relationship between piezoelectric potential and piezocatalysis.