Electrochemical
production of H2O2 from O2 is a promising
alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone
process that is currently used as an industry standard. Although most
research on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has focused on the
4-electron pathway to water relevant to fuel cells, the 2-electron
ORR to produce H2O2 is also of significant commercial
interest. The first half of this Perspective deals with the progress
made in developing noble metal, carbon-based, and single-atom electrocatalysts
and highlights the design strategies employed to obtain high selectivity
toward H2O2. The second half addresses the challenges
of large-scale production and how results obtained using a rotating
ring disk electrode (RRDE) can be translated into commercially viable
flow cells. This Perspective focuses on the design of catalysts and
cells that will enable industrial-scale electrochemical H2O2 production.
Compared to nanostructured platinum
(Pt) catalysts, ordered Pt-based
intermetallic nanoparticles supported on a carbon substrate exhibit
much enhanced catalytic performance, especially in fuel cell electrocatalysis.
However, direct synthesis of homogeneous intermetallic alloy nanocatalysts
on carbonaceous supports with high loading is still challenging. Herein,
we report a novel synthetic strategy to directly produce highly dispersed
MPt alloy nanoparticles (M = Fe, Co, or Ni) on various carbon supports
with high catalyst loading. Importantly, a unique bimetallic compound,
composed of [M(bpy)3]2+ cation (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine)
and [PtCl6]2– anion, evenly decomposes
on carbon surface and forms uniformly sized intermetallic nanoparticles
with a nitrogen-doped carbon protection layer. The excellent oxygen
reduction reaction (ORR) activity and stability of the representative
reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-supported L10-FePt catalyst
(37 wt %-FePt/rGO), exhibiting 18.8 times higher specific activity
than commercial Pt/C catalyst without degradation over 20 000
cycles, well demonstrate the effectiveness of our synthetic approach
toward uniformly alloyed nanoparticles with high homogeneity.
Graphene‐based nanocomposites are characterized by high mechanical strength, excellent electrical conductivity, and outstanding thermal and chemical stability. Additionally, the combination of versatile functionalization chemistry and simplicity of large‐scale synthesis makes graphene ideal for electrode materials for energy storage devices. To improve the electrochemical performance even further, recent research has focused on the preparation of porous graphene structures, either by creating holes in the graphene sheets or by assembling them into a 3D porous framework. Porous graphene and reduced graphene oxide allow for rapid ion diffusion and display high real surface area. In this review paper, the conventional methods for the preparation of porous graphene are summarized and recent progress in porous graphene‐based nanomaterials for electrochemical energy storage devices is discussed.
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.