Piezoelectric assisted photocatalytic degradation of dyes by plasmon Ag nanoparticles modified Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 nanospheres

Piezo-photocatalysis has attracted tremendous interest in dealing with organic pollutants. In this work, silver (Ag) nanoparticles modified Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 nanospheres (hereinafter referred to as Ag-NBTO) were prepared by hydrothermal and chemical solution methods. Our results show that 98.6 % RhB is degraded in 120 min under the simultaneous excitation of ultraviolet light and ultrasound with the assistance of Ag-NBTO. The corresponding rate constant k is 0.0329 min−1, which is 10 times higher than that of Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. The excellent piezo-photocatalytic performance may be attributed to the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect. This work offers great potential for eliminating environmental pollution and can be extended to other piezoelectric materials.