Regulation of friction pair to promote conversion of mechanical energy to chemical energy on BiWO and realization of enhanced tribocatalytic activity to degrade different pollutants.

Recently, friction-induced tribocatalysis has received tremendous attention through converting mechanical energy to chemical energy. However, its efficiency is much lower than those of photocatalysis and piezocatalysis, and its environmental application is limited in dye degradation. Herein, we developed a facile approach to improve the tribocatalytic activity of BiWO via adding trace polymer powders to form friction pairs with BiWO. Among various polymers, PTFE was demonstrated to be the best counterpart of BiWO. Subsequently, the PTFE dosage, stirring rate, magnetic bar size and number, and stirring mode were further optimized. The PTFE-promoted BiWO tribocatalysis was verified to possess excellent performance not only for removing different dyes, but also for degrading chlorophenols that are typical persistent organic pollutants. Multiple uses of the recycled catalysts indicated its good stability and prominent tribocatalytic durability. EPR measurements suggested the generation of hydroxyl radical and superoxide radical, which were determined to be continuously generated within 12 h at the rates of 0.88 μM h and 85 μM h, respectively. Subsequently, a possible mechanism was proposed to explain the enhanced performance of the PTFE-promoted BiWO tribocatalysis. Finally, on basis of the detected intermediates, the degradation pathways of Rhodamine B and 2,4-Dichlorophenol during tribocatalysis were suggested.