Ohmic heterojunction meets spin polarization: A dual-engineering strategy for efficient piezocatalytic hydrogen...

Piezocatalytic hydrogen (H₂) production from seawater offers a sustainable and highly promising strategy for energy conversion but is severely constrained by inefficient charge carrier utilization, sluggish surface reaction kinetics, and the potential destabilizing effects arising from the complex ionic environment of seawater. To address these challenges, a Zn-doped-CoP/MoS₂ (Zn-CoP/MoS₂) Ohmic heterojunction piezocatalyst with a spin-polarization effect is rationally designed. This system achieves multiple synergistic enhancements: (i) the interfacial Ohmic contact accelerates directional carrier migration; (ii) the spin-polarization effect, which can be further amplified by an external magnetic field, optimizes both carrier separation and H₂ evolution kinetics; and (iii) the excellent hydrophilicity coupled with strong H₂O adsorption capability synergistically promotes water activation. Benefiting from these advances, the developed Zn-CoP/MoS₂ delivers a piezocatalytic H₂ evolution rate of 3057.9 μmol g^-1 h^-1 in real seawater under an assisted magnetic field of 200 mT. Remarkably, it maintains high activity over 25 consecutive cycles (50 h total), demonstrating exceptional durability. This work establishes a powerful piezocatalytic paradigm that integrates interfacial Ohmic engineering, spin-polarization modulation, and reaction-environment synergy, offering a viable route for large-scale clean hydrogen production from seawater.