Highly Efficient Piezocatalytic Activity of Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) for Large-Scale Organic Wastewater Purification

Abstract

Piezocatalysis is an emerging and promising catalytic technique for degrading organic pollutants by harvesting mechanical energy. However, the catalytic efficiency and environment compatibility of present piezocatalysts are still unsatisfactory. Here, the superior piezocatalytic performance of eco-friendly poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) micron powders was demonstrated by degrading several typical dyes. Methylene blue can be degraded by 99% within 20 min (k = 0.246 min–1) using fresh PTFE under ultrasonic vibration, and PTFE exhibits excellent stability and reusability. In addition, rhodamine B, acid orange 7, and methyl orange can also be degraded by 100, 98, and 99% within 60 min, respectively, demonstrating the wide adaptability of PTFE. Catalytic mechanism investigations demonstrate that •OH and •O2 – play major roles in dye degradation. Furthermore, the influence of various water sources and different containers on the catalytic performances of PTFE was explored, indicating that PTFE has nice environmental suitability and that the glass container facilitates catalytic degradation. Therefore, a designed glass spiral tube was applied for large-volume wastewater purification, which can be further extended for potential applications. This work thus demonstrates that PTFE can be regarded as a promising catalyst for wastewater treatment by harvesting mechanical energy, and the proposed Z-shaped wastewater degradation device has potential applications in wastewater treatment.

Ferroelectric field enhanced tribocatalytic hydrogen production and RhB dye degradation by tungsten bronze ferroelectrics

“…However, in the case of stirring with three PTFE magnetic stirring bars without the addition of a catalyst, trace amounts of hydrogen were observed, which may be related to the catalysis from the friction between PTFE and glassware. 50…”

Synergistic sono-adsorption and adsorption-enhanced sonochemical degradation of dyes in water by additive manufactured PVDF-based materials

“…During the present study, the journey that started with the aim to build on BaTiO 3 piezocatalysts to fabricate PVDF-BaTiO 3 composite piezocatalysts by additive manufacturing with in-situ poling ended with the observation of sono-adsorption and adsorption-enhanced sonochemical degradation in presence of additive manufactured PVDF slabs that led to the removal of >95% of RhB in 1 L of solution within 40 min of treatment under ultrasound. Surprisingly enough, the observation of sono-adsorption in piezocatalysis research has been routinely overlooked or dismissed as a physical phenomenon that could be relevant to piezocatalysis, even in those cases where one could see adsorption occurring before sonication started [40] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] . Some of the studies where adsorption of dyes can be clearly noticed involved PVDF-based materials [38] , [64] , [65] .…”

Tribocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants Using Fe2O3 Nanoparticles

“…Mechanical energy is a kind of widely available and sustainable energy, such as wind energy, water flow, ambient noise, and vibration, which is widespread in nature. Piezoelectric materials can convert mechanical energy into chemical energy due to the piezoelectric effect, namely, piezocatalysis. − Recently, piezocatalysis has made significant progress in the application of pollutant degradation, ,, hydrogen production from water splitting, , carbon dioxide reduction, and so on. However, there are some strict requirements for piezocatalysts.…”