ZnSnO3-hBN Nanocomposite based Piezocatalyst: Ultrasound Assisted Reactive Oxygen Species Generation for Degradation of Organic Pollutants

Piezocatalysis is an emerging water purification technology in which mechanical energy is used to degrade toxic chemicals by means of piezoelectric material coupled with electrochemical surface reactions. However, low efficiency of concurrent piezocatalysts create a serious bottleneck for their widespread applications. Herein, we report zinc stannate and hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet (ZnSnO3-hBN)-based nanocomposite as efficient piezocatalyst for degradation of organic pollutants under ultrasound irradiation. Compared to piezocatalytic ZnSnO3 nanoparticle, it’s composite with hBN facilitates almost 4 times faster degradation of RhB. Room temperature ferroelectric property of ZnSnO3-hBN nanocomposites is responsible for generating strong piezopotential and fast carrier transport. We found that superoxide radicals generated during piezocatalysis are the principal reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for ultrasound assisted pollutants degradation phenomenon. The presented concept can be adapted for designing efficient piezocatalytic materials for ultrasound assisted water decontamination applications.