Piezocatalytic enhancement in La-doped Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 ceramics for water treatment

Abstract

In the present work, La-doping (1, 1.5, and 2 mol%) is used in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) ceramics to enhance piezocatalytic performance. La-doping increased the density of the sintered pellets (from 91% to 98.5%) and significantly enhanced their poling response. The piezoelectric coefficient of NBT-xLa increased from 58 pC/N (x = 0) to 101 pC/N (x = 1.5%). Additionally, the piezoelectric coefficient to relative permittivity ratio increases with La concentration, indicating enhanced piezoelectric potential. The optimized NBT-0.015La composition achieved 92% RhB degradation within 120 min under ultrasonication with a catalyst dosage of 1 g/L. When applied as a piezocatalyst in a ball-milling system, the same composition achieved ∼61% degradation at a dosage of 2 g/L. Poled NBT-0.015La pellet as catalysts further demonstrated ∼61–67% degradation over five reuse cycles with negligible performance loss. Overall, NBT-0.015La shows strong piezoelectric efficiency, stability, and reusability, establishing ultrasonication-driven piezocatalysis as a promising lead-free route for sustainable wastewater treatment. © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.