Novel Optimization of Photocatalytic Degradation of Wastewater Pollutants Using Ferroelectric Materials

Wastewater pollution has a detrimental impact on the environment, including harming aquatic ecosystems, causing eutrophication, and posing risks to human health. Existing catalysts commonly used for pollutant degradation in wastewater can demonstrate a low percent degradation of pollutants, have a high acting time, only work under limited conditions, work on a large or small scale, or possess a combination of these limitations. Piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials have been shown to have catalytic activity in degrading pollutants. Lead zirconate (piezoelectric) and strontium titanate (ferroelectric) are examples of materials that possess these properties. The purpose of this study was to utilize multiple ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials such as zirconate and strontium titanate to develop a novel catalyst to degrade pollutants in wastewater. In the conducted experiment, different ratios and combinations of lead zirconate, strontium titanate, and titanium dioxide powders were mixed and added to wastewater samples obtained from various sources. These wastewater samples included three different industrial wastewater samples and one solution of methylene blue and water. Each sample of wastewater and catalyst mixed together was left to sit under both visible and UV light under controlled conditions times and reaction times. The absorption of the wastewater was recorded at the beginning and end of the reaction periods and compared. The catalyst with a 1:1 ratio of strontium titanate to lead zirconate mixed into the third industrial wastewater sample had a 19.57% greater percent degradation efficiency than the traditionally used catalyst, titanium dioxide mixed with the same wastewater sample under the study’s experimental conditions. The different catalysts’ percent degradation efficiency was assessed through calculations with absorption levels, with a decrease in absorption indicating the breakdown of pollutants into smaller, potentially less harmful particles. The developed catalysts achieved pollutant degradation within 12 minutes as compared with existing catalysts, which typically require 90-150 minutes for wastewater treatment. These findings underscore the potential of the catalyst developed in this study, strontium titanate and lead zirconate in a 1:1 ratio, for safeguarding the environment, improving public health, preserving aquatic ecosystems, and mitigating eutrophication when used as a wastewater treatment solution.