cs0c04735_si_001.pdf (7.36 MB)
Hydrogen Peroxide Generation with 100% Faradaic Efficiency on Metal-Free Carbon Black
journal contribution
posted on 2021-02-09, 17:07 authored by Zhe Wang, Qin-Kun Li, Chenhao Zhang, Zhihua Cheng, Weiyin Chen, Emily A. McHugh, Robert A. Carter, Boris I. Yakobson, James M. TourElectrochemical
oxygen reduction to hydrogen peroxide is now being
studied as a promising renewable and localized alternative for the
traditional complex anthraquinone process. Catalysts for this two-electron
reduction pathway with high selectivity are required to achieve industrialization.
Here, we disclose an inexpensive metal-free catalyst that is synthesized
from commercial carbon black (CB) with a one-step plasma method for
the affordable electrochemical generation of hydrogen peroxide in
100% Faradaic efficiency. This catalyst shows a high onset potential
(0.1 mA cm–2 at 0.80 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode
(RHE)) and the highest mass activity (300 A g–1 at
0.60 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode) among state-of-the-art catalysts.
The performance could be maintained after the removal of oxygen-containing
groups. Microscopic and spectroscopic characterizations as well as
density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the performance
comes from the defective structure after plasma treatment.