Photo and Piezocatalytic Behavior of Ag-NPs-Hybridized Barium Titanate

Barium Titanate, a piezoelectric material having fascinating dye adsorbing properties, is forecasted as a promising material for the adsorption of cationic dyes. However, its efficiency remains a challenge that needs to be enhanced due to less surface charge. Herein, photocatalysis (PC) and piezocatalytic (PzC) induced degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in the wastewater using barium titanate and barium titanate hybridized with silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) metal particles were investigated and compared. The solid-state synthesis route was employed to synthesize Barium Titanate ceramics. Ag-NPs metal was hybridized with Barium Titanate particles (through a physical deposition technique) under ambient conditions at STP in the absence of light and heat. A broader hump was observed during UV–Vis spectrophotometry due to the surface plasmonic resonance on the Ag-NPs-hybridized Barium Titanate sample. Visible light source and vibrational energy were employed in the solution as an energy source in the PC and PzC, respectively. More than 99% of the rhodamine B (RhB) was degraded in an aqueous solution employing an Ag-NPs-hybridized Barium Titanate sample, its promising PC, and PzC activity. It was observed that the Ag-NPs-hybridized Barium Titanate powder gives more activity in RhB than pure Barium Titanate powder. It was observed that the PC and PzC performance was caused by the –OH radical species. The PC/PzC outcome was shown to be stable after five cycles, revealing the favoring property of the Ag-NPs-hybridized Barium Titanate.