Facile synthesis of advanced BaTiO3/CuPbSbS3 heterostructure photocatalyst with enhanced piezo-photocatalytic degradation performance

The polarization electric field feature of piezoelectric materials is greatly beneficial to enhance the separation and migration of photogenerated carriers. Herein, we propose a BaTiO3/CuPbSbS3 (BTO/CPSS) heterostructure photocatalyst through the combination of hydrothermal and facile butyldithiocarbamate acid (BDCA) solution process, in which the catalytic degradation performance of BTO/CPSS can be effectively enhanced by the synergistic effect of piezoelectricity and semiconductor properties. Through dedicatedly adjusting the loading amount of CPSS, the Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation efficiency of BTO/CPSS achieves 9.33×10−2 min−1 along with a strong catalyst stability, which is attributed to the prolonged charge life time due to the piezoelectricity of the optimal BTO/CPSS. Moreover, the heterostructure of BTO/CPSS and polarization effect of BTO can further enhance the separation of electron-hole pairs, which can provide stronger driving force for catalytic degradation.