posted on 2021-11-17, 10:29authored byLiangpang Xu, Yang Liu, Lejing Li, Zhuofeng Hu, Jimmy C. Yu
Synthesis
of the indispensable H2O2 in pure
water remains a challenge for current methods, which often require
organic solvents (anthraquinone method), sacrificial agents of alcohols
(traditional photocatalysis), or electrolyte of salts (electrochemical
synthesis). Here, various biomass (glucose, sucrose, starch, cellulose,
and paperboard) was converted to hydrothermal carbonaceous carbon
(HTCC) photocatalysts for H2O2 synthesis in
pure water. The apparent quantum yield and synthesis rate could reach
18.2% (at 420 nm) and 1.16 mmol gcat–1 h–1, respectively. Importantly, HTCC can be prepared
with biomass waste such as paperboard. Mechanism study indicates that
H2O2 production on HTCC is dominantly via a
two-step oxygen reduction reaction with superoxide anions as an intermediate.
Through theoretical calculation, it was found that the polyfuran structure
of HTCC is favorable for adsorption and activation of oxygen and exhibits
superior electron transfer property. These are the key steps for oxygen
reduction and the subsequent H2O2 production.
This work provides insights into activation of oxygen on the emerging
HTCC photocatalyst and highlights its appealing application for H2O2 synthesis in pure water.