Issue 36, 2025

Defect engineering for enhancing the piezoelectric catalytic activity of Bi2S3 for hydrogen production

Abstract

Piezocatalysis has emerged as a promising strategy for sustainable hydrogen production, yet its efficiency remains limited by insufficient charge separation and sluggish surface reactions. In this study, we demonstrate that introducing sulfur vacancies into bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) significantly enhances its piezocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution. DFT calculations revealed that sulfur vacancies induce asymmetric Bi–S bond contraction and adjacent bond elongation, and the redistribution of electron density produces local dipole moments, thus improving the piezoelectric response of Bi2S3. Moreover, it is further established that there is an obvious structure–activity relationship between the crystal structure and piezoelectric catalytic efficiency. This work provides a defect-engineering approach for designing high-performance piezoelectric catalysts for clean energy applications.

Graphical abstract: Defect engineering for enhancing the piezoelectric catalytic activity of Bi2S3 for hydrogen production

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Jul 2025
Accepted
11 Aug 2025
First published
14 Aug 2025

Dalton Trans., 2025,54, 13703-13711

Defect engineering for enhancing the piezoelectric catalytic activity of Bi2S3 for hydrogen production

Q. Jia, M. Li and W. Sun, Dalton Trans., 2025, 54, 13703 DOI: 10.1039/D5DT01611H

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