Enhancement of NiTiO piezocatalytic hydrogen evolution by doping with large radius elements.

Piezocatalysis is a direct method for converting mechanical vibration into chemical energy. Herein, NiTiO is used in the piezocatalytic hydrogen evolution field for the first time. The noncentral symmetry of NiTiO is enhanced by doping with large radius elements. It is demonstrated that when a metal element replaces the sites of nickel, it results in lattice distortion and a higher piezoelectric response. In particular, Cd-doped NiTiO exhibits the highest H generation rate (1.52 mmol g h), which is 13 times that of original NiTiO.