Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) is a versatile and environmentally friendly chemical oxidant with a remarkably diverse range of applications, including fine chemical synthesis, first aid kits for disinfection, pulp and textile bleaching, wastewater treatment and others. [1,2] Industrial production of H₂O₂ is based on the anthraquinone oxidation/reduction process, which consumes a lot of energy, requires complex and large-scale equipment, and mass extraction solvents, generating an enormous waste. [3] There is a general demand for a more decentralised infrastructure, where energy conversion and chemical synthesis are conducted closer to the point of consumption. [4] In this context, developing an electrochemical process to partially reduce O₂ to H₂O₂ (O₂ + 2H+/e- → H₂O₂) in an acidic medium would be an attractive strategy that could be carried out under ambient conditions using renewable energies. However, practical and economic electrocatalysts that exhibit high activity and selectivity for hydrogen peroxide production is to be developed. [5] A series of M-N/C catalysts (M = Fe, Co, and Cu) were prepared in the present study. [6] The performance (activity and selectivity) of these catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction was investigated in the potential window of 0.2 V to 1.0 V vs. the Reversible Hydrogen Electrode (RHE). Electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the Co-N/C [c] electrocatalyst exhibits high ORR activity and exceptional selectivity for hydrogen peroxide production (92% at 0.5 V vs. RHE).

Keywords: Hydrogen Peroxide, Electrochemical Synthesis, and M-N/C Electrocatalysts.

References

[1] Jung, Euiyeon; Shin, Heejong; Lee, Byoung-Hoon; Efremov, Vladimir; Lee, Suhyeong; Lee, Hyeon Seok; Kim, Jiheon; Hooch Antink, Wytse; Park, Subin; Lee, Kug-Seung; Cho, Sung-Pyo; Yoo, Jong Suk; Sung, Yung-Eun; Hyeon, Taeghwan (2020). Atomic-level tuning of Co–N–C catalyst for high-performance electrochemical H2O2 production. Nature Materials, (), –.

[2] Yang, Sungeun; Verdaguer-Casadevall, Arnau; Arnarson, Logi; Silvioli, Luca; Colic, Viktor; Frydendal, Rasmus; Rossmeisl, Jan; Chorkendorff, Ib; Stephens, Ifan Erfyl Lester (2018). Towards the decentralized electrochemical production of H2O2: A focus on the catalysis. ACS Catalysis, (), acscatal.8b00217–.

[3] Gao, Jiajian; Liu, Bin (2020). Progress of Electrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Synthesis over Single Atom Catalysts. ACS Materials Letters, (), acsmaterialslett.0c00189–.

[4] Siahrostami, Samira; Verdaguer-Casadevall, Arnau; Karamad, Mohammadreza; Deiana, Davide; Malacrida, Paolo; Wickman, Björn; Escudero-Escribano, María; Paoli, Elisa A.; Frydendal, Rasmus; Hansen, Thomas W.; Chorkendorff, Ib; Stephens, Ifan E. L.; Rossmeisl, Jan (2013). Enabling direct H2O2 production through rational electrocatalyst design. Nature Materials, 12(12), 1137–1143.

[5] Guo, Xiangyu; Lin, Shiru; Gu, Jinxing; Zhang, Shengli; Chen, Zhongfang; Huang, Shiping (2019). Simultaneously Achieving High Activity and Selectivity towards Two-Electron O2 Electroreduction: the Power of Single-Atom Catalysts. ACS Catalysis, (), acscatal.9b02778–.

[6] Kucernak, A; Malko, D; Lopes, T. Oxygen Reduction Catalysts, WO2015049318 A1, 9 april 2015.