Electrochemical hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) production via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has received much consideration as a substitute to the well-known industrial anthraquinone method. The present challenge in this area is developing appropriate cost-efficient materials with excellent electrocatalytic properties, durability, and product selectivity. This study examined electrocatalytic performance and selectivity toward H 2 O 2 production of mesoporous SnO 2 (meso-SnO 2 ) electrodes prepared using a tunable hydrothermal process. After evaluating the effects of different NaCl concentrations and annealing conditions in the hydrothermal method, an electrode was developed with a significantly improved H 2 O 2 production rate than the pristine material. Vacuum annealing led to materials with more surface defects. Meso-SnO 2 annealed under vacuum exhibits distinctive electrochemical properties of two well-separated 2e À O 2 reduction peaks to produce H 2 O 2 as the main product compared to meso-SnO 2 annealed in air. Most importantly, the introduction of surface oxygen vacancies into the meso-SnO 2 crystal structure was determined to be a prominent approach to enhance its ORR performance in producing H 2 O 2 , showing great selectivity of above 85% at an onset potential of $0.6 V RHE . The vacancy-rich meso-SnO 2 reveals enhanced electrocatalytic performance with ORR peak potential to be 0.6 V RHE, and the number of electron transfer numbers is 2.5, but greater durability in alkaline solutions. Thus, this work presents an innovative route for designing, synthesizing, and mechanistic examining enhanced SnO 2 -based catalytic materials for H 2 O 2 production.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.