Fe⁰/PTFE Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Ultrafast Dye and Antibiotic Degradation

Triboelectric catalysis is a new technology that converts mechanical energy to chemical energy. This study presents a novel efficient triboelectric catalytic design based on iron (Fe⁰) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The tribocatalytic effect was evaluated by degrading methyl orange (MO), crystal violet (CV), and tetracycline (TC). The degradation efficiency can reach 95, 97, and 93% within 24 min, respectively, and the kinetic constant <i>K</i> of CV was as high as 0.1460 min^-1. The comparison with the stirring experiment showed that the friction catalytic effect between Fe⁰ and PTFE was significantly enhanced under ultrasonic irradiation. Furthermore, the triboelectric effect is used to provide simplicity and strong triboelectric catalytic activity of Fe⁰/PTFE, and the influencing factors are analyzed. And the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals increases during the catalytic process. The mechanism of triboelectric catalysis is discussed in terms of electron transfer and transition. This study utilizes the triboelectric effect of Fe⁰/PTFE to provide simplicity and superior triboelectric catalytic activity under ultrasonic irradiation.