Polymerizable Ionic Liquid-Derived N, S co-Doped sp³/sp² Carbon as Electrocatalyst for H₂O₂ Generation

The H₂O₂ generation via the green electrochemical process is of high interest. For the H₂O₂ electrochemical generation, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important. Unfortunately, the ORR is kinetically sluggish and catalysts are needed. However, noble metal ORR catalysts are pricy and scarcely applicable in applications. Therefore, non-precious metal catalysts are desired. Heteroatom-doped carbons show promise as metal-free ORR catalysts. The ORR catalytic activity will be enhanced by the carbon's sp² and/or sp³ engineering. For N, S co-Cdoped and sp²/sp³ modulated carbon, a polymerizable ionic liquid of hydrolyzed vinyl imidazolium was studied. The carbon is studied as a metal-free catalyst for the ORR via the 2e^- process. It is possible to get an onset potential of 0.88 V vs. RHE with approximately 50 % selectivity for the H₂O₂. The current study offers a simple technique for synthesizing heteroatom-doped sp²/sp³ designed carbon as catalysts for the electroreduction of O₂ to produce H₂O₂, and a new way of tunning the sp³/sp² carbon catalytic activity by modulating the ionic liquid.