With the rapid industrial development, the shortage of clean water and energy resources has become an increasingly severe global issue, posing significant challenges to human survival and international relations. The energy supply relies on water resources, and the water supply depends on energy as well. Consequently, the demand for environmentally friendly, pollution-free, and efficient wastewater purification processes has surged in recent years. The ultimate goal is to not only purify the wastewater but also repurpose it for clean energy production. With this aim, this research first investigates the synergistic effects of piezocatalysis and physical adsorption in molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoflowers systematically. Due to their unique layered structure and multi-phase composition, MoS2 nanoflowers (NFs) have attracted considerable attention in research fields of nanomaterials and catalysis and are widely applied in piezoelectric catalysis systems. However, the multi-phase composition and high specific surface area of MoS2 NFs grant them not only piezocatalytic degradation capabilities for organic pollutants but also significant physical adsorption capacity. This dual functionality complicates the accurate assessment of their effectiveness in wastewater purification, leading to potential misjudgments. In this study, we focus on the lattice structures of MoS2 NFs and validate the high physical adsorption properties of the 1T phase MoS2 with a trigonal lattice structure toward the organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB). This physical adsorption phenomenon can be modulated by adjusting the pH environment of the solution. For the 2H phase MoS2 NFs, which possess a hexagonal lattice structure, significant piezoelectric charges can be generated under the applied external mechanical force through piezocatalysis, thereby promoting the catalytic reaction activities. Simultaneously, the high specific surface area and surface electrostatic properties provide excellent adsorption capabilities, effectively capturing the reactants, and further enhancing the catalytic efficiency. This study successfully combines the MoS2 NFs with carbon cloth substrates, utilizing carbon cloth fibers with a high specific surface area as the base material to increase the overall surface area and active sites. Under the influence of mechanical force from water flow, reactive oxygen species are produced through the piezocatalytic effect, effectively decomposing the organic pollutant molecules. In this work, over 2.5 liters of RhB dye is completely degraded within five consecutive cycles, without emitting any secondary pollutants throughout the process, demonstrating the net-zero emissions and environmental sustainability of the MoS2-carbon cloth composite catalyst. In the research field of renewable energy, hydrogen gas, as a clean and efficient energy carrier, has been widely recognized and studied. To achieve sustainable hydrogen production using purified water recovered from the wastewater treatment via piezocatalysis, this study combines the piezoelectric 2H phase MoS2 NFs with the highly conductive transition metal carbide Mo2CTx to form a MoS2@Mo2CTx heterostructure piezo-photocatalyst. By harvesting ultrasound mechanical force energy and solar energy, the hydrogen production of the heterostructure catalyst reaches 9019.4 μmol・g-1 within 8 hours, which is 1.62 times higher than that of piezocatalysis. To enhance the practical applicability of the composite catalyst, we utilize water flow as the energy source to drive the piezocatalyst, achieving a hydrogen production of 454.1 μmol・g-1 within 24 hours under a completely dark environment. Finite element method (FEM) is also applied to simulate and predict the potential hydrogen production abilities from various hydraulic sources such as dams, rivers, and ocean tides under the influence of water flow. This research offers a novel and feasible solution for large-scale hydrogen production, holding significant practical application value in the global pursuit of low-carbon emission and clean energy solutions.
材料科學工程學系