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Published on: October 5, 2019
Photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide production toward quantum yields exceeding 100
Tetsuro Soejima1,2, Yaozong Yan2, Hiroaki Tada3
1Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kindai University, 3-4-1, Kowakae, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan. soejima@apch.kindai.ac.jp.
None:
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is not only an important substance widely used in large quantities in chemistry and the chemical industry, but also a promising clean fuel and oxidant for fuel cells. In recent years, photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis from O2 and/or water has been actively researched with the aim of green on-site production. The intrinsic reaction efficiency can be evaluated by the external quantum yield or apparent quantum yield defined by the ratio of the number of H2O2 molecules produced to the number of incident photons. Remarkably, external quantum yields of approximately 100% have already been achieved in several photocatalytic H2O2 generation systems via the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). H2O2 has a unique property of being able to be produced through the ORR and the water oxidation reaction (WOR). Taking advantage of this, research into photocatalytic H2O2 production via simultaneous reduction and oxidation processes (H2O2/H2O2-PCP) has recently begun. This feature article focuses on H2O2/H2O2-PCP, which has the potential to produce H2O2 with a quantum yield of over 100%. First, we discuss the fundamentals of materials and reaction design for constructing highly efficient H2O2/H2O2-PCP systems. Afterwards, several cutting-edge studies on H2O2/H2O2-PCP are highlighted to learn effective approaches for enhancing the quantum yield and discussed in terms of the materials and reaction design. Finally, we summarize the conclusions and outline challenges and perspectives in this hot topic to stimulate future research.
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