Effect of Poling on Multicatalytic Performance of 0.5Ba(Zr(0.2)Ti(0.8))O(3)-0.5(Ba(0.7)Sr(0.3))TiO(3) Ferroelectric Ceramic for Dye Degradation

Ferroelectric materials with a spontaneous polarization are proven to be potential multicatalysts in water remediation applications. The composition of 0.5Ba(Zr(0.2)Ti(0.8))O(3)-0.5(Ba(0.7)Sr(0.3))TiO(3) (BST-BZT) was examined for photocatalysis, piezocatalysis, and piezo-photocatalysis processes by degrading an azo dye named methylene blue (MB). Generally, dis-aligned dipoles restrict the catalytic activities due to which the BST-BZT powder sample was poled by the corona poling technique. Coupled piezocatalysis and photocatalysis process, i.e., the piezo-photocatalysis process has shown maximum dye degradation. There was a significant improvement in degradation efficiency by using a poled BST-BZT sample compared to the unpoled sample in all processes, thus the results suggest an extensive scope of poled ferroelectric ceramic powder in the catalysis field.