Flexible Ag@LiNbO3/PVDF Composite Film for Piezocatalytic Dye/Pharmaceutical Degradation and Bacterial Disinfection

A flexible poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) composite film embedding LiNbO3 ceramics decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has been synthesized using the solvent casting method. The polar beta-phase, Ag NPs, and LiNbO3 phases were confirmed in the composite film using various characterization methods. The composite film showed promising degradation of cationic and anionic dyes using piezocatalysis under ultrasonication. Moreover, this composite film also effectively degraded two model pharmaceutical pollutants named tetracycline and ciprofloxacin using piezocatalysis under ultrasonication. In addition to this, this composite film piezocatalytically removed more than 99.999% of Escherichia coli and 96.65% of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria within 180 min of sonication. The piezocatalytic performance of the PVDF composite film embedding Ag-loaded LiNbO3 in all three applications was superior to that obtained in the case of the PVDF film embedding LiNbO3 and the bare PVDF film. This demonstrates the pronounced effect of Ag NPs in the increase of piezocatalytic activity in the composite film.