Industrial-Grade H2O2 Electrosynthesis via N/O-Doped Hierarchically Porous Carbon Nanoreactors with Remarkable Yield
Hongnan Du1,2, Haitao Li3, Huijuan Jing1
1State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, China.
Abstract:
The two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e- ORR) enables sustainable electrochemical production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), providing a green alternative to the traditional anthraquinone process. Herein, we report N/O dual-doped hierarchically porous carbon nanoreactors (N/O-HPCNs) derived from ZIF-8 via a facile one-step pyrolysis. The optimized catalyst achieves ∼90% H2O2 selectivity over a wide potential range in 0.10 M KOH. Crucially, in a flow cell, N/O-HPCNs deliver an industrial-grade current density of 200 mA cm-2 with 92.8% Faradaic efficiency and a remarkable H2O2 yield of 17.3 mol g-1 h-1, while maintaining > 80% Faraday efficiency for 100 h. Finite element simulations confirm that hierarchical pores enhance mass transfer and reduce H2O2 residence time, while DFT calculations elucidate the distinct roles of N doping for activity and oxygen functional groups in promoting 2e- ORR selectivity. This work provides a scalable strategy for sustainable H2O2 production.
