Thermo-electrochemical coupling for room temperature thermocatalysis in pyroelectric ZnO nanorods

Autor: Xiaoli Xu, Zheng Wu, Huilin You, Yuntao Xia, Weiqi Qian, Yanmin Jia, Yangqiong Zheng, Yuanting Hong
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Electrochemistry Communications, Vol 81, Iss, Pp 124-127 (2017)
ISSN: 1388-2481
DOI: 10.1016/j.elecom.2017.06.017
Popis: A strong thermo-electrochemical coupling in solvothermally-synthesized ZnO nanorods is achieved by combining pyroelectric effects and electrochemical oxidation, and is employed for room temperature thermocatalysis. Under 22–62°C heating–cooling cycles, ZnO nanorods are shown to possess high thermocatalytic activity for Rhodamine B, resulting in ~98.15% decomposition. The active species are shown to be hydroxyl and superoxide radicals generated from the reaction between pyroelectrically-induced charges and the hydroxyl ions/oxygen gas in solution. After being recycled six times, the ZnO shows no decrease in thermocatalytic activity. Thermocatalysis offers a non-toxic, highly efficient, recyclable approach for utilization of thermal energy at room temperature. Keywords: Room temperature thermocatalysis, Thermo-electrochemical coupling, Pyroelectric effect, ZnO nanorods
Databáze: OpenAIRE