Synergic effect of photocatalysis and tribocatalysis for dye degradation by BaTiO₃ ceramics

Tribocatalysis is one of the emerging processes for organic dye degradation application. The process uses mechanical energy as a source for breaking down organic pollutants present in water. The synergistic effect of two catalysis processes for eliminating organic pollutants, here in the present study photocatalysis an advanced oxidation process is integrated with the tribocatalysis process for enhancing the degradation efficiency of the tribocatalysis process by using BaTiO3 ceramic powder as a catalyst. The responsible factors for dye degradation via the tribocatalysis process such as surface roughness of the materials utilized, force applied, and energy band gap of the catalyst are also studied. The Methylene Blue dye's degradation was similar to 39%, similar to 60%, and similar to 76 % through tribocatalysis, photocatalysis, and photo-tribocatalysis respectively by using 400 mg BaTiO3 ceramic powder in 8 h. The synergistic effect of photocatalysis and tribocatalysis process showed enhanced degradation compared to individual processes.