Breaking the Limits of Piezo‐Photocatalysis: Pd‐O d‐p Orbital Hybridization Mediated Charge Reconstruction and Polarization Enhancement

ABSTRACT Piezo‐photocatalysis has emerged as a promising strategy to suppress charge recombination in conventional photocatalysis for the removal of refractory organic pollutants and green hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) production. Nevertheless, sulfide‐based piezo‐photocatalysts still suffer from weak piezoelectric response and ambiguous coupling mechanisms between atomic orbitals and polarization. Herein, we designed Pd‐doped and lattice oxygen‐modified Zn 3 In 2 S 6 piezo‐photocatalyst (Zn 3 In 2 S 6 ‐Pd‐350) by regulating d‐p orbital hybridization at Pd sites to achieve efficient piezo‐photocatalytic performance. Lattice oxygen occupies sulfur vacancies and converts Pd–S into Pd–O coordination, enabling strong Pd 4d–O 2p orbital hybridization. The σ* and π* antibonding orbitals act as electron acceptors to accelerate charge separation. The charge asymmetry induced by Pd and lattice oxygen enhanced piezoelectric properties of catalyst, resulting in a 156% increase of the piezoelectric coefficient. Zn 3 In 2 S 6 ‐Pd‐350 achieved 100% degradation of 2,4‐DCP and H 2 O 2 yield of 327.9 µmol·g −1 ·h −1 , accompanied by •OH, •O 2 − and 1 O 2 synergistic oxidation. Calculations confirm that single‐atom Pd replacing Zn is the active center with optimal Pd–S 1 O 3 coordination, and external strain further enhances O 2 /H 2 O adsorption. This work establishes an atomic‐level design strategy via orbital engineering, reveals the essential synergy among orbital hybridization, charge distribution and piezoelectric polarization, and provides a feasible route for chlorophenol wastewater remediation and low‐carbon H 2 O 2 synthesis.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.79377
Primary Topic
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Breaking the Limits of Piezo‐Photocatalysis: Pd‐O d‐p Orbital Hybridization Mediated Charge Reconstruction and Polarization Enhancement

Dong Zhai, Yi Ren, Zuoli He, Shuguang Wang et al.
3 links
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
article

Breaking the Limits of Piezo‐Photocatalysis: Pd‐O d‐p Orbital Hybridization Mediated Charge Reconstruction and Polarization Enhancement

Dong Zhai, Yi Ren, Zuoli He, Shuguang Wang, Meng Dai, Shumeng Qin, Hongsheng Li, Ziye Zheng, Lihui Xiao, Xiaoge Wu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Piezo‐photocatalysis has emerged as a promising strategy to suppress charge recombination in conventional photocatalysis for the removal of refractory organic pollutants and green hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) production. Nevertheless, sulfide‐based piezo‐photocatalysts still suffer from weak piezoelectric response and ambiguous coupling mechanisms between atomic orbitals and polarization. Herein, we designed Pd‐doped and lattice oxygen‐modified Zn 3 In 2 S 6 piezo‐photocatalyst (Zn 3 In 2 S 6 ‐Pd‐350) by regulating d‐p orbital hybridization at Pd sites to achieve efficient piezo‐photocatalytic performance. Lattice oxygen occupies sulfur vacancies and converts Pd–S into Pd–O coordination, enabling strong Pd 4d–O 2p orbital hybridization. The σ* and π* antibonding orbitals act as electron acceptors to accelerate charge separation. The charge asymmetry induced by Pd and lattice oxygen enhanced piezoelectric properties of catalyst, resulting in a 156% increase of the piezoelectric coefficient. Zn 3 In 2 S 6 ‐Pd‐350 achieved 100% degradation of 2,4‐DCP and H 2 O 2 yield of 327.9 µmol·g −1 ·h −1 , accompanied by •OH, •O 2 − and 1 O 2 synergistic oxidation. Calculations confirm that single‐atom Pd replacing Zn is the active center with optimal Pd–S 1 O 3 coordination, and external strain further enhances O 2 /H 2 O adsorption. This work establishes an atomic‐level design strategy via orbital engineering, reveals the essential synergy among orbital hybridization, charge distribution and piezoelectric polarization, and provides a feasible route for chlorophenol wastewater remediation and low‐carbon H 2 O 2 synthesis.

Advanced Functional Materials
Shandong University (CN), Weihai Science and Technology Bureau (CN), Yangzhou University (CN)
Shandong University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmissions
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 35%
Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
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