Atomically dispersed asymmetric cobalt electrocatalyst for efficient hydrogen peroxide production in neutral media

Journal article

Electrochemical hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production (EHPP) via a two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e- ORR) provides a promising alternative to replace the energy-intensive anthraquinone process. M-N-C electrocatalysts, which consist of atomically dispersed transition metals and nitrogen-doped carbon, have demonstrated considerable EHPP efficiency. However, their full potential, particularly regarding the correlation between structural configurations and performances in neutral media, remains underexplored. Herein, a series of ultralow metal-loading M-N-C electrocatalysts are synthesized and investigated for the EHPP process in the neutral electrolyte. CoNCB material with the asymmetric Co-C/N/O configuration exhibits the highest EHPP activity and selectivity among various as-prepared M-N-C electrocatalyst, with an outstanding mass activity (6.1 × 105 A gCo−1 at 0.5 V vs. RHE), and a high practical H2O2 production rate (4.72 mol gcatalyst−1 h−1 cm−2). Compared with the popularly recognized square-planar symmetric Co-N4 configuration, the superiority of asymmetric Co-C/N/O configurations is elucidated by X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy analysis and computational studies.

Authors: Liu, L; Kang, L; Feng, J; Hopkinson, DG; Allen, CS

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 4079
• Publication date: 2024-05-14
• Acceptance date: 2024-04-22
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48209-0
• EISSN: 2041-1723
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• Language: English