Contact-Electro-Catalysis for Dye Degradation Using Polymer Composites Fabricated under Cyclic Pulsating Pressure

Contact-electro-catalysis (CEC) can degrade organic pollutants by inducing surface electron transfer and generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) through mechanical stimulation, making it a highly efficient and cost-effective wastewater treatment method in recent years. However, the materials used for CEC are limited to certain electronegative organic polymers, and research on the development of polymer/inorganic composite materials with outstanding comprehensive effects is still relatively scarce. In this work, a kind of polyvinylidene difluoride/barium titanate (PVDF/BTO) composite is proposed, with BTO uniformly dispersed on the surface of PVDF to improve dispersibility and catalytic activity. Cyclic pulsating pressure (CPP) technique is applied to regulate the powders’ microstructure, enhancing their charge transfer and catalytic efficiency. Results show that the powders prepared with CPP achieved a methyl orange (MO) dye degradation rate of approximately 92% within 240 min, compared to around 55% for the powders prepared by conventional pressure molding (CPM), which is attributed to the enhanced charge accumulation capacity of the CPP powders, enabling continuous charge transfer during triboelectric and piezoelectric responses, to improve catalytic efficiency. In this work, we not only provide a sustainable solution for efficient dye wastewater treatment but also offer fundamental insights into further development of the contact-electro-catalysis technology.