Single-iron, cobalt, nickel, and copper-atom catalysts for the selective reduction of oxygen to H₂O₂

Abstract

The pursuit of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production via two-electron electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is hampered by the lack of high-performance electrocatalysts. In this work, a series of single metal...

Highly coordinative molecular cobalt–phthalocyanine electrocatalyst on an oxidized single-walled carbon nanotube for efficient hydrogen peroxide production

“…The H 2 O 2 productivity of CoPc-6wt%/o-SWCNT-2 reaches 3.12 mol g −1 h −1 with a FE of 83%, surpassing all of the referenced samples such as SWCNT (0.98 mol g −1 h −1 ), o-SWCNT-2 (1.14 mol g −1 h −1 ) and CoPc-6wt%/SWCNT (1.2 mol g −1 h −1 ), in accordance with the RRDE results, indicating the formation of more active Co coordinative sites in CoPc-6wt%/o-SWCNT-2 for the high yield H 2 O 2 production. This H 2 O 2 yield for CoPc-6wt%/o-SWCNT-2 is 16 and 6.3 times higher than those of the recently reported Cu/NCNSs 46 and Ni 0.1 SA/CNNS 47 transition-metallic SACs, respectively, in neutral electrolytes. The contributions of CoPc loading and surface oxidation of the o-SWCNT support to the final 2e − ORR for H 2 O 2 production were also examined, as shown in the volcano plots depicted in Fig.…”

Activity Origin and Catalytic Mechanism of the M–N–C Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

“…2−4 It can also be reduced to hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) via the two-electron (2e − ) pathway, which has emerged as a promising alternative to the anthraquinone process to achieve on-site production of H 2 O 2 for water treatment, disinfection, and chemical synthesis. 5 Unfortunately, the dynamics of the cathode ORR are sluggish due to the activation/cleavage problem of the O−O bond, especially at low pHs. 6 Therefore, developing high-performance ORR catalysts is of critical importance for the realization of efficient energy storage and biomass conversion systems.…”

“…Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the cornerstone of future sustainable energy, is widely recognized as one of the key reactions in energy conversion . Molecule O 2 can be reduced to H 2 O via the four-electron (4e – ) pathway, which is extensively applied in energy conversion and storage devices, such as fuel cells and metal–air batteries. − It can also be reduced to hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) via the two-electron (2e – ) pathway, which has emerged as a promising alternative to the anthraquinone process to achieve on-site production of H 2 O 2 for water treatment, disinfection, and chemical synthesis . Unfortunately, the dynamics of the cathode ORR are sluggish due to the activation/cleavage problem of the O–O bond, especially at low pHs .…”