In the field of environmental remediation and sustainability, the built-in electric field of ferroelectrics has been regarded as a promising strategy to enhance photocatalytic (PC) dye degradation and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. Here, we report on Ce-doped BaTiO 3 (BT) nanoassemblies prepared by a hydrothermal route. X-ray diffraction reveals the phase transformation from tetragonal to cubic on the sintering temperature and Ce doping. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the oxygen vacancies are found to be maximum for 4 mol % of Ce concentration. The ferroelectric and piezoelectric measurements disclose a higher remnant polarization (1.76 μC cm −2 ) and d 33 coefficient (15 pCN −1 ) at 4 mol % due to the built-in electric field. Thus, we observed a significantly improved PC dye degradation with the rate constant (k) of 0.0139 m −1 (methylene blue), 0.0147 m −1 (methyl violet) at 4 mol %, and 0.0117 m −1 (congo red) at 6 mol %. PEC water splitting showed that the photoanode fabricated at 4 mol % of Ce exhibits enriched photocurrent density (1.45 mA cm −2 ), impressive early onset of water oxidation (−0.504 V), and hydrogen gas evolution (22.50 μmol h −1 cm −2 ). Poling studies display a significant enhancement in both PC and PEC properties indicating the built-in electric field assisted activities of Ce-doped BT nanoassemblies. The underlying mechanisms behind the degradation efficiency and improved photocurrent density are established via the built-in electric field facilitating charge carrier detachment and transport as evidenced by the photoluminescence decay and XPS valence band spectra.

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WO 3 supported on zeolite-Y (WO 3 -ZY) was successfully synthesized by a facile impregnation method and well characterized by various techniques. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was investigated for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible, UV and solar light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed for the catalyst WO 3 -ZY, which may be due to the presence of more active sites that can adsorb a greater number of dye molecules. The TEM, FESEM and adsorption studies confirm that the WO 3 supported on zeolite-Y has a very small particle size of about 8 nm compared with the bare WO 3 at 97 nm. The efficient electron-hole pair separation and the role of active species were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy and the test of the effect of scavengers, respectively. The mechanism for the photocatalytic degradation of RhB was proposed and the pathway of RhB degradation was illustrated schematically.