Scalable synthesis of Bi2O2S nanoplates with large piezoelectric potential induced by a built-in electric field in a [Bi2O2]2+ layer for the degradation of organic contaminants.

2D piezoelectric catalysts with strong piezoresponse and high piezoelectric potential have valuable applications in catalytic degradation of organic pollutants and antibiotics, but the development of novel nanomaterials with powerful piezopotential still remains a serious challenge. Bismuth oxysulfide (Bi2O2S) nanosheets possessing large piezoelectric potentials were prepared using a low-heating solid-state chemical reaction and used for the first time for piezoelectric catalysis in this work. Moreover, Bi2O2S nanosheets can degrade pollutants universally, and the degradation efficiencies of methyl blue and rhodamine B are as high as 97.7% and 92.9% within 60 min under ultrasonication, respectively, which is superior to most piezoelectric materials reported in the literature.