Dual-pathway self-promoting piezocatalytic H2O2 generation over Bi5Ti3FeO15 nanofibers and the mechanism

Piezocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) generation is a promising synthesis method that has received increasing attention; however, the reaction pathway requires further investigation. Here, Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 nanofibers are used to generate H 2 O 2 by harvesting mechanical energy, and the reaction pathways are investigated. The H 2 O 2 yield over Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 nanofibers steadily increases from 331 μmol g −1 h −1 in the first cycle to 746 μmol g −1 h −1 in the tenth cycle in pure water without a sacrificial agent. Reliable reaction pathways are revealed by monitoring the pH value changes in the reaction solution during the H 2 O 2 generation process. In the H 2 O 2 generation process, the water oxidation reaction (WOR) provides a large amount of H + in the reaction solution, which promotes the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for H 2 O 2 generation. Therefore, an efficient synergistic effect between ORR and WOR achieves dual-pathway H 2 O 2 generation, contributing to the excellent piezocatalytic performance of Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 nanofibers. Furthermore, mechanistic studies indicate that the piezocatalytic H 2 O 2 generation follows the energy band theory. This work not only demonstrates Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 nanofibers as efficient piezocatalysts for H 2 O 2 generation but also provides a simple and effective approach to elucidate reaction pathways. This strategy can be applied in photocatalytic, tribocatalytic, and electrocatalytic H 2 O 2 generation.