A metal-free cascaded process for efficient H₂O₂ photoproduction using conjugated carbonyl sites

Carbon-based metal-free catalysts are promising green catalysts for photocatalysis and electrocatalysis due to their low cost and environmental friendliness. A key challenge in utilizing these catalysts is identifying their active sites, given their poor crystallinity and complex structures. Here we demonstrate the key structure of the double-bonded conjugated carbon group as a metal-free active site, enabling efficient O₂ photoreduction to H₂O₂ through a cascaded water oxidation - O₂ reduction process. Using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as a precursor, we synthesized various carbon-based photocatalysts and analyzed their structural evolution. Under the polymerization conditions of 260 °C to 400 °C, an N-ethyl-2-piperazinone-like structure was formed on the surface of the catalyst, resulting in high photocatalytic H₂O₂ photoproduction (2884.7 μmol g^-1h^-1) under visible light. A series of control experiments and theoretical calculations further confirm that the double-bond conjugated carbonyl structure is the key and universal feature of the active site of metal-free photocatalysts.