Terraced (K, Na)NbO3 piezocatalysts with superior H2O2 production

Abstract

Piezocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production is an emerging and green technology, but complex preparation process of piezocatalyst and low production rate limit its practical application. Herein, we propose a straightforward and efficient strategy, that is, fabricating a novel terraced potassium sodium niobate (KNN-H) by integrating high-energy pendulum ball-milling into the conventional solid-state method, to control the morphology of piezocatalyst and boost its piezocatalytic activities. By exposing a large number of edge sites with higher piezoelectric response and more active sites, KNN-H sample exhibits an extremely high H2O2 production rate of 47 μmol/h, about 35 times higher than that of previously reported potassium niobate piezocatalyst. Besides, KNN-H sample also has good effects on dye degradation and bacterial inhibition. Therefore, our strategy provides a paradigm for large-scale fabrication of high-performance perovskite piezocatalysts.