Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity by the Combined Influence of Ferroelectric Domain and Au Nanoparticles for BaTiO3 Fibers

Ferroelectric particles have been applied in the photocatalytic field because the spontaneous polarization results in the internal electric field, which can accelerate the separation and migration of photogenerated carriers. In this study, the BaTiO 3 (BT) fibers are synthesized by electrospinning. The BT fibers calcined above 800[Formula: see text]C exhibit a strong ferroelectric property, which is verified by a typical butterfly-shaped displacement-voltage loop. It is found that the BT fibers with the single-domain structure exhibit better photocatalytic performance than that with the multi-domain configuration. When the single-domain transforms into multi-domain, the integrated internal electric field correspondingly breaks up, inducing that the internal electric field might cancel each other out and diminish the separation of photogenerated carriers. Also, the Au nanoparticles can improve the photocatalytic activity further on account of the surface plasmon resonance. Therefore, it is suggested that Au nanoparticles decorated on ferroelectric BT nanomaterials are promising photocatalysts.