Enhancement of pyroelectric catalysis of ferroelectric BaTiO3 crystal: The action mechanism of electric poling

In this work, the commercial BaTiO3 crystal was cut into the same wafers along (101) crystal plane. These wafers were poled under various poling fields to study the effect of electric poling on the pyroelectric catalysis performance during the process of dye decomposition. Under 140 cold-hot (28 - 60 °C) cycles, the dye decomposition ratio using the unpoled BaTiO3 catalyst is close to 0, whereas it reaches ~ 56% using the BaTiO3 poled under a poling field of ~5.00 kV/mm. The poling treatment shows a great influence on the pyroelectric catalysis since it directly affects the number of charges generated on the surface of BaTiO3 crystal under the external temperature variation excitation. The generation of these middle product hydroxyl radicals further proves the reaction mechanism of the pyroelectric catalysis. The good catalysis and recyclability performance suggests the poled BaTiO3 pyroelectric crystal is an potential material in dye wastewater remediation through utilizing room-temperature thermal energy.