Enhanced Pyroelectric Catalysis of BaTiO₃ Nanowires for Utilizing Waste Heat in Pollution Treatment

A novel catalytic effect of pyroelectric materials induced by a change in temperature, namely pyroelectric catalysis, was found to be attractive due to its ability to utilize waste heat in pollution treatment. In this work, the pyroelectric catalytic properties of BaTiO₃ (BTO) nanowires synthesized by a template hydrothermal method have been thoroughly investigated. The nanowires with an elongated polar axis show a superior pyroelectric catalytic performance in comparison with the equiaxial nanoparticles. Our numerical simulation results with a finite element method indicate that the enhanced catalytic efficiency of BTO nanowires can be attributed to the higher pyroelectric potential. On the basis of the pyroelectric effect and our experimental results, a pyroelectric catalytic degradation mechanism has been proposed by taking into account the migration of charge carriers and the formation of reaction radicals. This study for enhancing the pyroelectric catalytic activity by using BTO nanowires may provide a facile, promising, and new reusable strategy for the catalytic degradation of organic dye pollutant by means of temperature variation. It is hoped that the present work gives a clear understanding of the mechanism of pyroelectric catalysis.