Recent developments in strategies to enhance pyrocatalysis of pyroelectric perovskite nanomaterials for water purification

Abstract

The currently strict environmental protection policies have spurred the development of innovative technologies for water purification. Under cooling or heating excitation, such as natural temperature variations, pyroelectric perovskite materials can generate plenty of positive and negative electric charges to pyrocatalytically drive water purification, which is a novel green technology and has emerged as a promising water treatment solution. Currently, the time-consuming cooling-heating alternation excitation is inevitable in order to achieve high pyrocatalytic degradation performance of organic pollutants in water solutions. Determining how to further enhance pyrocatalytic performance is key for future practical applications. On the basis of the deep analysis of the pyro-electro-chemical coupling mechanisms, this review proposes some effective strategies to enhance the pyrocatalysis of perovskite for water purification, including increasing polarization strength, modulating microstructure, optimizing surface and interface regulation and building multicatalytic synergy between pyrocatalysis and piezo-/photocatalysis. This review outlines a roadmap for future research on efficient pyrocatalytic water purification application through ultilizing environmental temperature fluctuations, such as the natural day and night alternation.