Cyano-Regulated Organic Polymers for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic H₂ O₂ Production in Various Actual Water Bodies

Photocatalytic production of H₂ O₂ has drawn significant attention in recent years, but the yield rate of current photocatalytic systems is still unsatisfactory. Moreover, the presence of various components in actual water bodies will consume the photogenerated charges and deactivate the catalyst, severely limiting the real applications of photocatalytic H₂ O₂ production. Herein, a cyano-modified polymer photocatalyst is synthesized by Knoevenagel condensation with subsequent thermal polymerization. The introduction of cyano group and sulfer (S), oxygen (O) elements modulates the microstructure and energy band of the polymer catalyst, and the cyano group sites can effectively adsorb and activate O₂ , realizing the generation of H₂ O₂ in the two-step single-electron oxygen reduction process. The reported system achieves high H₂ O₂ generation rate up to 1119.2 µmol g^-1 h^-1 in various water bodies including tap water, river water, seawater, and secondary effluent. This simple and readily available catalyst demonstrates good anti-interference performance and pH adaptability in photocatalytic H₂ O₂ production in actual water bodies, and its photodegradation and sterilization applications are also demonstrated. This study offers new insights in developing polymer catalysts for efficient photocatalytic production of H₂ O₂ in various water bodies for practical application.