Potential of Tandem Catalysts for Excellent H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Electrosynthesis at Industrial-Relevant Current
Direct electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) serves as an innovative and less-energy-demanding alternative to the conventional anthraquinone process. As the process involves active hydrogen (*H) production and hydrogenation of oxygen-containing intermediates, catalysts containing dual functional sites for *H and *OOH intermediate generation might boost the H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> electrosynthesis activity. Here, we report a tandem catalyst with a uniform distribution of single-atom Al sites around Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> species, constituting the adjacent catalytic centers (Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/Al<sub>1</sub>-O-C). The Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/Al<sub>1</sub>-O-C catalysts exhibit high H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> selectivity in alkaline conditions and achieve a yield rate of 39.4 mol g<sub>cat.</sub><sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> with a favorable stability of over 100 h in the flow cell. The direct output concentration of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> can reach 1659.2 mmol L<sup>-1</sup> (5.61 wt %) at 400 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. The in situ measurements and simulated calculations reveal that the Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> sites catalyze the Volmer step in water decomposition to generate *H, which significantly promotes the *OOH generation from the reduction of *O<sub>2</sub> on single-atom Al sites, thus promoting H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> electrosynthesis at high current densities. This tandem design enables industrially relevant H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> electrosynthesis, demonstrating the potential for practical applications in the future.
Authors
- Xueyang Zhao
- Chenghua Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7654-669X)
- Junfeng Niu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2592-3103)
- Yizhao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0248-2894)
- Hongtao Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8596-5527)
- Kun Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0080-7352)
- Hongxiang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-2168)
- Xinyu Zhang
- Shuai Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9447-7283)
- Siming Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-3588)
Institutions
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN)
- North China Electric Power University (CN)
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- Huzhou Normal University (CN)
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (CN)
- Southwest Jiaotong University (CN)
- Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Nano
- Published
- 2025-08-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c08394
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.82
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China