Highly Efficient Acidic Electrosynthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide at Industrial-Level Current Densities Promoted by Alkali Metal Cations.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
; 63(30): e202406452, 2024 Jul 22.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38735843
ABSTRACT
Acidic H2O2 synthesis through electrocatalytic 2e- oxygen reduction presents a sustainable alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone oxidation technology. Nevertheless, acidic H2O2 electrosynthesis suffers from low H2O2 Faradaic efficiencies primarily due to the competing reactions of 4e- oxygen reduction to H2O and hydrogen evolution in environments with high H+ concentrations. Here, we demonstrate the significant effect of alkali metal cations, acting as competing ions with H+, in promoting acidic H2O2 electrosynthesis at industrial-level currents, resulting in an effective current densities of 50-421â
mA cm-2 with 84-100 % Faradaic efficiency and a production rate of 856-7842â
µmol cm-2 h-1 that far exceeds the performance observed in pure acidic electrolytes or low-current electrolysis. Finite-element simulations indicate that high interfacial pH near the electrode surface formed at high currents is crucial for activating the promotional effect of K+. In situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations reveal the central role of alkali metal cations in stabilizing the key *OOH intermediate to suppress 4e- oxygen reduction through interacting with coordinated H2O.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Alemania