Boosting the photosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide directly from pure water and air over S-scheme fiber heterojunction

The generation of solar H2O2 through the reaction of O2 and H2O is a cost-effective and environmental-friendly procedure. Nevertheless, most photocatalysts are only active when sacrificial donors are present, thereby limiting their practicality. Herein, the S-scheme fiber heterojunction Nb2O5@NiS (NONS) was fabricated as a catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide evolution through an electro-spinning-assisted ion exchange strategy. In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was then used to investigate the excellent performance (0.48 mmol g−1) of the optimized photocatalyst NONS-30 obtained directly from pure water and air through the S-scheme charge transfer path. Following scavenger capture experiments and electron spin resonance spectroscopy, an overlooked pathway was discovered that implicated 1O2 in the formation of H2O2. This work also revealed an alternative reaction pathway to produce H2O2 by fabricating fiber heterojunction photocatalysts.