Fundamentals, advances and perspectives of piezocatalysis: A marriage of solid-state physics and catalytic chemistry

Piezocatalysis, an evolving catalytic technology built on the piezoelectric properties of catalysts, breaks down the barrier between mechanical energy and chemical energy. The potential difference that arises from the mechanical deformation of a piezoelectric material is commonly termed ‘piezopotential’. Piezopotential has been demonstrated to facilitate the manipulation of band structure and/or charge carrier separation. Despite significant efforts to design materials and understand the mechanism of piezoelectrically enhanced chemistry through semiconductor physics, there remains an opportunity to review the relationships between catalytic performance and piezo/ferroelectric properties. Herein, we provide a comprehensive summary of the catalytic mechanisms and correlated piezo/ferroelectric physical mechanism in the field of piezocatalysis. A fundamental understanding of piezo/ferroelectric structural design based on solid-state physics can be used to shed light on the future development of piezocatalysis. In addition, the types of piezoelectric materials, the design strategies for catalysis efficiency enhancement, and the up-to-date applications in environment remediation, renewable energy conversion, biomedicine and biotechnology are discussed. Finally, future perspectives for designing and developing highly active piezocatalysts using the guidelines of physicochemical relationships are proposed.