Electron Transfer‐Proton Supply Decoupling at Functionalized Polymer Interfaces Enables Efficient Air‐Fed H <sub>2</sub> O <sub>2</sub> Electrosynthesis

ABSTRACT Air‐fed electrochemical H 2 O 2 production via the two‐electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e − ORR) offers a sustainable alternative to conventional processes, yet its efficiency is fundamentally constrained by low O 2 availability and intrinsically coupled electron‐proton transfer. Here, we construct a bifunctional covalent organic polymer interface integrating carbonyl electron‐relay units and quaternary ammonium cationic motifs on commercial carbon black (QSPIP‐TMC@CB), enabling efficient H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis directly from air. The QSPIP‐TMC@CB delivers a H 2 O 2 production rate of 3410.1 mmol·h −1 ·g −1 with 91.4% H 2 O 2 Faradaic efficiency (FE H2O2 ) under air, and sustains stable operation at 100.0 mA·cm −2 for 35.0 h. Mechanistically, carbonyl motifs function as reversible redox mediators that facilitate electron injection into O 2 , while quaternary ammonium cations enrich interfacial O 2 and regulate proton accessibility via Donnan repulsion, suppressing excessive protonation of the *OOH intermediate and preventing O─O bond cleavage. This cooperative regulation decouples electron transfer from proton supply, thereby stabilizing the 2e − pathway under O 2 ‐lean conditions. The strategy is readily extendable to representative ORR catalysts (Co─N─C and ZnO) and enables gram‐scale H 2 O 2 production (4.8 g h −1 at 5.0 A, 1.0 wt% within 5 min), establishing functionalized‐interface electron‐proton decoupling as a general and scalable design paradigm for air‐fed H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2026-05-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.3259811
Primary Topic
Covalent Organic Framework Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Electron Transfer‐Proton Supply Decoupling at Functionalized Polymer Interfaces Enables Efficient Air‐Fed H 2 O 2 Electrosynthesis

J F Zhang, Yue Wang, Zhu Y, Y Liu et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Covalent Organic Framework Applications
article

Electron Transfer‐Proton Supply Decoupling at Functionalized Polymer Interfaces Enables Efficient Air‐Fed H 2 O 2 Electrosynthesis

J F Zhang, Yue Wang, Zhu Y, Y Liu, Chengsi Pan, Jing Xu, Hongwen Huang, Ying Zhang, Yang Lou, Yuming Dong
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Air‐fed electrochemical H 2 O 2 production via the two‐electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e − ORR) offers a sustainable alternative to conventional processes, yet its efficiency is fundamentally constrained by low O 2 availability and intrinsically coupled electron‐proton transfer. Here, we construct a bifunctional covalent organic polymer interface integrating carbonyl electron‐relay units and quaternary ammonium cationic motifs on commercial carbon black (QSPIP‐TMC@CB), enabling efficient H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis directly from air. The QSPIP‐TMC@CB delivers a H 2 O 2 production rate of 3410.1 mmol·h −1 ·g −1 with 91.4% H 2 O 2 Faradaic efficiency (FE H2O2 ) under air, and sustains stable operation at 100.0 mA·cm −2 for 35.0 h. Mechanistically, carbonyl motifs function as reversible redox mediators that facilitate electron injection into O 2 , while quaternary ammonium cations enrich interfacial O 2 and regulate proton accessibility via Donnan repulsion, suppressing excessive protonation of the *OOH intermediate and preventing O─O bond cleavage. This cooperative regulation decouples electron transfer from proton supply, thereby stabilizing the 2e − pathway under O 2 ‐lean conditions. The strategy is readily extendable to representative ORR catalysts (Co─N─C and ZnO) and enables gram‐scale H 2 O 2 production (4.8 g h −1 at 5.0 A, 1.0 wt% within 5 min), establishing functionalized‐interface electron‐proton decoupling as a general and scalable design paradigm for air‐fed H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis.

Angewandte Chemie
Jiangnan University (CN), Shanghai Normal University (CN), Ministry of Education and Child Care (CA), Nanjing University (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Basic Research Program of Jiangsu Province
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Covalent Organic Framework Applications
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