Insights into highly efficient piezocatalytic molecule oxygen activation over Bi2Fe4O9: Active sites and mechanism

The synthesized Bi2Fe4O9 nanosheets exhibit excellent piezocatalytic activity for molecular oxygen activation. The Fe2+ sites in Bi2Fe4O9 nanosheets as active centers preferentially adsorb molecular oxygen and donate electrons to molecular oxygen to generate O2∙- for degrading organic pollutants, which is then regenerated by accepting the piezo-electrons, resulting in outstanding piezocatalytic performance.