Recent Advancement in Piezopolarization Induced Photocatalytic H2O2 Production: Fundamentals, Theoretical Insights, and Future Endeavors

Currently, piezopolarization-driven photocatalysis has emerged as a promising sustainable technology for proficient solar-to-chemical conversion efficiency. The piezoelectric field generated by mechanical deformation was found to be an effective strategy for energy band modulation alongside effective separation/transfer of carriers. This review summarizes the fundamentals of piezopotential-based catalysis, particularly for piezo-photocatalysis and the associated H2O2 production. This review also describes the detailed piezo-operational mechanism, peroxide formation pathway, and different detection/quantification techniques. Further, we have thoroughly discussed the theoretical insights of piezopolarization referring to suitable reported literature. We have also discussed several recently reported state-of-the-art systems on piezo-photocatalytic H2O2 evolution reactions. Finally, the summary and future prospective section highlights the connected challenges and insightful new ideas for the scientific community to completely comprehend the science of piezo-photocatalysis and develop efficient systems for green energy and environmental applications.