Bi Nanoparticle/Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ Nanosheet/g-C₃N₄ Nanowire Heterojunction for the Piezocatalytic H₂O₂ Production

Piezocatalysis offers a facile method for H 2 O 2 production with the ability to obtain the desired product under clean and safe conditions. In this study, an efficient ternary n-n type van der Waals (vdW) heterojunction piezocatalyst Bi/Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 /g-C 3 N 4 (BBC) was fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method, leading to the in situ reduction of metallic Bi and the formation of a heterojunction. The piezocatalytic activity of the BBC nanocomposite for H 2 O 2 production (10.5 mmol g –1 h –1 ) is significantly enhanced by the synergistic effect of metallic Bi and g-C 3 N 4, exceeding that of pure BTO and g-C 3 N 4 by factors of 2.19 and 1.98, respectively. The piezoelectric catalytic mechanism demonstrates that the boosted piezocatalytic performance of this novel nanocomposite BBC could be attributed to the unique structure and the strengthened internal electric fields formed by the vdW heterojunction that improved the charge separation efficiency. This work presents an effective strategy to fabricate efficient nanocomposites capable of converting mechanical energy into chemical energy.