Oxygen Reduction Reaction for Generating H 2 O 2 through a Piezo-Catalytic Process over Bismuth Oxychloride.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for generating H2 O2 through green pathways have gained much attention in recent years. Herein, we introduce a piezo-catalytic approach to obtain H2 O2 over bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) through an ORR pathway. The piezoelectric response of BiOCl was directly characterized by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). The BiOCl exhibits efficient catalytic performance for generating H2 O2 (28 μmol h-1 ) only from O2 and H2 O, which is above the average level of H2 O2 produced by solar-to-chemical processes. A piezo-catalytic mechanism was proposed: with ultrasonic waves, an alternating electric field will be generated over BiOCl, which can drive charge carriers (electrons) to interact with O2 and H2 O, then to form H2 O2 .