Defect engineering in cellulose for piezocatalytic generation of hydrogen peroxide under ambient conditions

Abstract

Herein, defect engineering of oxygen-vacancies (OVs) was applied to cotton-derived cellulose to boost its piezocatalytic performance for hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generation. Under ambient aqueous conditions without sacrificial agents, cellulose containing OVs (cellulose–OVs) achieved an H₂O₂ concentration of 330.4 µM after 2 h of ultrasonic vibration. This concentration was 9.2 times that of pristine cellulose (35.9 µM) and exceeded the concentrations obtained with many representative inorganic piezocatalysts. Mechanistic studies revealed that OVs markedly promoted piezoelectric charge separation and transfer. This work demonstrates production of a high-performance natural biomass-based piezocatalyst via defect engineering that shows potential for sustainable H₂O₂ generation.