A one-step soft-template hydrothermal preparation and piezoelectric catalytic activity of flowers-like Co-doped MoS2 microspheres

Piezoelectric catalysis is a promising environmental remediation technology developed by using piezoelectric materials to absorb mechanical energy (such as ultrasonic vibration or flow fluctuation) that widely exists in the environment. In this study, a new strategy for degradation of pollutants in water by piezoelectric catalysis was proposed, and a series of Co-doped MoS2 microspheres were prepared by one-step soft template hydrothermal method. The results showed that the particle size of these microspheres was around 2–4 µm and the flower-like structure was formed by the self-assembly intercalation of nanosheets. The Co-doped MoS2 (CMS-T-15) exhibited the best strain-induced effect and piezocatalytic activity for TC degradation (84.3% within 600 s), which was about 1.5 times higher than that of pure MoS2 (MS-T). The superior performance was attributed to the Co doping affects the electronic structure of the MoS2 crystals, which caused the binding energies of Mo 3d5/2 and Mo 3d3/2 in CMS-T-15 sample slight shifts towards higher binding energy values (229.6 eV and 232,8 eV). In addition, the ultrathin flower-like structure of Co-doped MoS2 provided abundant catalytic active edge sites and increased the surface charge density, promoting the generation of more superoxide radicals (‧O2-) and hydroxyl radicals (‧OH) to degrade TC pollutants. This work provides new insights into changing the morphology of MoS2 to develop high performance, low-cost piezoelectric catalysts that address water pollution by harnessing sustainable mechanical energy in the aqueous environment.