Metal oxide semiconductors have attracted
much attention due to
their versatility in different applications, ranging from biosensing
to green energy-harvesting technologies. Among these metal oxides,
oxide-based diluted magnetic semiconductors have also been proposed
for fuel cell applications, especially for the oxygen reduction reaction
(ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction. However, the catalytic mechanism
has been proposed to follow a two-electron pathway, forming hydrogen
peroxide, instead of the four-electron pathway. Herein, we report
cobalt-doped zinc oxide (Co
x
Zn1–x
O, 0 < x < 0.018) materials
prepared using a co-precipitation method suitable for the electrocatalytic
production of hydrogen peroxide. The electrocatalytic performance
of Co
x
Zn1–x
O materials showed up to 60% hydrogen peroxide production with
onset potentials near 649 mV, followed by the two-electron ORR mechanism. Ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments at the
Co K-edge demonstrated the presence of Co(II) ions at tetrahedral
sites within the ZnO lattice.
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